Prophecy
by Umbrus-Sama
Summary: AU Naruto DBZ Xover, Post Cell Games. An amnesiac Gohan is discovered oustide of Konoha's gates. What role will he play in the future of the Shnobi world? MOVED TO CROSSOVER SECTION!
1. Prologue

**Author's Notes:** This is my very first Naruto Fic, but my third fic overall (or fourth, if I bothered to count my red-headed stepchild fic, Digital Saviors), but I've had the idea in my head for months now, and I need to get it written before I go crazy or forget parts I like (Whichever comes first). And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, I bring to you:

* * *

_**Prophecy**_

A Naruto Fanfic by Umbrus-Sama

In a time long since forgotten by the self-proclaimed "Modern" side of the world, the ancient elders told tales of things yet to come. Clairvoyance was a very prevalent trait among the ancients, and they would often travel to a vast canyon in the south and discuss their prophetic dreams around a great bonfire that never seemed to burn out.

There was a single instance, however, when everyone present at the great meeting simultaneously had the same vision. A young person (It couldn't be determined whether the person was a man or woman, as they only saw passing glimpses of the individual) with wild blonde hair and blue or green eyes (That was up for debate among them) saved the world from an unseen cataclysmic event that would have insured the apocalyptic end of the world.

That sparked some dissention when two tribes of the ancients had descendents who would fit the bill perfectly. The first was the Yamanaka clan, led by Yamanaka Inomaru. Another was the Namikaze clan, led by Namikaze Rasen. The other clans, quickly realizing how this was tearing the unity the Canyon of the Cosmos was supposed to bring, persuaded the factions to let the topic drop, but each still believed that their clan would eventually save the world.

Centuries passed, and it seems that it was the house of Yamanaka would be the first to save the world, as Yamanaka Inoki became a Cetra Miko and had a hand in defeating the "Calamity from the Skies" known as Jenova. Millennia later, the house of Namikaze would have their time to shine, as Namikaze Minato, last known descendent of the clan and Konoha's Yondaime Hokage, sealed the Kyuubi no Youko into a newborn child, ending what could've been the single greatest threat the world had ever known. It was accepted by the Yamanaka that it was to be the Namikaze that saved the world, and with the prophecy seemingly fulfilled, began to rebuild Konoha. However, this was merely the beginning, as two young men would have a hand in the fate of the world, and it would all start ten years after the Kyuubi's rampage, with one coincidental event…

- Prophecy -

The village of Konohagakure no Sato has lived in relative peace for the last decade, with no apparent end to its prosperity, barring that bizarre earthquake a year ago that the entire planet felt in unison. The Yondaime's predecessor, Sarutobi the Sandaime Hokage, was forced to resume his role as head of the village. He is the only one who knows the Yondaime's dying wish: for the boy he sealed the Kyuubi within to be hailed as a hero; to be celebrated as the savior of the village, as it is only he who stands between the fox spirit and Armageddon. As the Sandaime looks out of his window, gazing at the thriving town he has sworn to protect twice now, he sighs guiltily.

The villagers, as well as the vast majority of shinobi loathe the boy's presence, as they see him as the Kyuubi itself rather than merely its jailor. In fact, before the boy was a week old, he had 57 assassination attempts on his life. As a result, the boy was placed under constant ANBU surveillance and the Third had to decree that the knowledge of the Kyuubi within the boy was forbidden to discuss, especially in front of the younger generation, the boy included, and the punishment for breaking this law was immediate execution for treason. Sarutobi felt that this law would give the boy some chance at a normal life and the chance to make friends his own age. The parents, however immediately forbade their children from playing with him, making the boy an outcast. Anytime he would walk through the village, he was subjected to glares of pure hatred from parents, and was ignored by everyone else. The children, subconsciously picking up on their parents' irrational hatred of the boy, began treating him the same way.

The boy, completely miserable, began staging pranks of a grand scale, for no apparent reason if not to be acknowledged. And the boy was very good at what he did. The village's best chuunin, and even some of the jounin, simply couldn't catch the boy after his escapades were discovered. Only Lord Hokage himself, or Oyaji, as the boy came to call him, could discern his location, and even that was because of a crystal ball that allowed him to see any one person provided they were within the walls that surrounded the village. The aging Hokage, however never punished the boy, simply because he got a much-needed good laugh out of the child's antics.

The Sandaime saw a flicker of blinding orange making a beeline for his tower, and instantly knew that the boy was on his way. He was the ONLY person who wore that hideous shade, and though he claimed it was because it was his favorite color, the Hokage knew it was because it was the only thing the store owners would sell him, to make him easy to spot in a crowd. The Hokage sighed again, mentally preparing himself for the boy's visit. The last time he dropped by, the Hokage's office was neon pink for three days, and his hair was lime green as well.

Said boy was grinning like an idiot, while merrily jogging toward Oyaji's tower, one of the few places he felt at ease in within the village's boundaries. The glares were out in full force, but the boy carelessly smiled back at them, his whisker-birthmarked cheeks stretched as far as they could go. The villagers, though annoyed by his attitude, merely grumbled and returned to their daily business. He entered the tower and trudged up the stairs, mumbling darkly between his still grinning teeth about the sheer amount of levels the place had, and kicked open the office door, shouting "HOW'S IT GOING OYAJI!'

The Hokage sighed for what had to be the 50th time that day and simply responded, "Ah, Naruto-kun. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

Naruto pointed at the man and replied, "I was wondering if you wanted to go out for Ramen! Being cooped up in this office all day and all must be boring…"

"Ramen? Sounds good, Naruto, but it will have to wait until later today, as I have a meeting with the council soon…"

Naruto squinted his cerulean eyes at Sarutobi and pouted, giving his whiskered visage a very fox-like appearance. "Well, alright. I'll be back around seven, ok?" He asked.

"Seven should be fine. Now if you'll excuse me Naruto…" The Hokage trailed off.

Naruto, realizing that the old man wanted him to leave so that he himself could, flashed a grin at the man and spun around, tossing a "See ya then Oyaji" over his shoulder as he left.

The Sandaime had to prepare himself mentally again, as he had an hour before he had to meet with the council. He opened a hidden drawer in his desk and got out a little orange book, with the title 'Icha Icha Paradise'.

- Prophecy -

Meanwhile, about half a mile outside of the gates, a young man who couldn't have been any older than Naruto, slowly trudged unknowingly toward the village, and was clearly worse for wear. His spiky black hair was in desperate need of a trim, his purple gi and matching pants were ill-fitting, filthy and tattered, and he seemed to have given up all hope for shoes. His obsidian eyes were clouded and his stomach began to growl like a wild beast. He stepped out into the clearing before the massive gates, before simply slipping into the blackness of unconsciousness.

The ninja seated in the lookout tower to the left of the gates, a man by the name of Nara Shikaku, happened to hear the thumping sound the black-haired youth's body makes, and somehow managed to tear his eyes away from the sky to glance over the side of the tower.

Upon discovering the disheveled child, he calls "Hey Chouza! Inoichi!" Akimichi Chouza was Shikaku's teammate and best friend when they were Genin, and they remained close friends to this day with the third member of the group, Yamanaka Inoichi. Chouza, a rather portly man wearing body armor and with flaming red hair and purple face markings, glanced up from the Shougi board he and Inoichi were currently using to glance at his comrade.

"What is it Shikaku?" He replied. Inoichi, taking advantage of Chouza's inattention and begins cheating, also glanced at Shikaku.

"One of you needs to find Lord Hokage. Now. We have a problem." Shikaku explained, still examining the downed boy.

"Why?" Inoichi asked. He got up to see what Shikaku could've been so worked about. "Surely it can't be that…serious." He trailed off, seeing the youth as well. "Damn. Chouza, go find the Hokage. We have an unexpected guest, and he's apparently unconscious."

"R-Right." Chouza said, and with a single hand seal, he vanished in a puff of smoke.

Shikaku turned to Inoichi. "Take the boy to the hospital."

"And what are you going to do?" Inoichi snapped once he realized that Shikaku had passed all the work to Chouza and himself.

Shikaku smirked, before returning to his seat. "I'm remaining at our post; after all, we can't leave the village's gates unguarded."

Inoichi glared at his lazy teammate, before grumbling to himself and jumping down to retrieve the raven-haired youth. Shikaku returned his eyes to their 'rightful place': the sky above. He had a few hours left before he had to return home to the troublesome harpy he loved. He cringed, as he imagined Yoshino's response to that nickname.

As Shikaku resumed his original position, Inoichi recovered his newfound charge, and shot off toward Konohagakure's hospital, many questions racing through his mind. While running, he glanced down at the still unconscious boy.

'_How did you end up in such bad shape, kid? You look like you've gone twelve rounds with Orochimaru himself.' _The boy's prone body offered no answers. Sighing, Inoichi concentrated charka into his legs and sped up.

- Prophecy -

Meanwhile, Sarutobi had just finished Chapter Seven of his little orange book, and had a lecherous grin and a small nosebleed to show for it, when Chouza barged into the room, panting heavily. Sarutobi, with all the stealth his position as the best ninja in the village promised, quickly replaced the book in its hidden drawer and wiped his nose. He stared at Chouza with a hint of annoyance shining in his eyes.

"Ho-Hokage-Sama," Chouza gasped out. "You're needed at the hospital. We discovered an unconscious young boy there, and figured it would be best to report it to you."

The Sandaime's eyes shifted from annoyed to concerned in a heartbeat. "Is he one of ours?" The old man asked.

"No, sir. I've never seen him before, but the kid looks like he's really been through the ringer."

"Very well then." Sarutobi said, standing and leaving the office, Chouza trailing on his heels.

- Prophecy -

Inoichi finally arrived at the hospital, and flagged down the first nurse that passed.

"This boy needs help. Now." He said breathlessly. The nurse swiftly procured a stretcher and an empty room, and called for a Med-Nin. A diagnostic jutsu revealed that the boy was simply exhausted and needed little more than rest. Inoichi released a breath he was unaware he was holding upon hearing this news. He turned around to leave the room and came face-to-face with the Hokage himself.

"Hokage-Sama." Inoichi saluted. Sarutobi waved him off. "What's his condition, Inoichi?" He asked.

"The boy's just exhausted, sir. All he needs is rest." Inoichi answered.

"Any idea as to the child's identity?" Sarutobi asked.

"None, sir. No one seems to recognize the boy."

"I see. Well, would you mind sticking around here until our mysterious friend wakes up?" The Sandaime asked, using a light tone of voice with a hint of authority, signifying that it was an order, rather than a request.

"Not in the least, Hokage-Sama." Inoichi responded automatically.

"Excellent. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a council meeting to attend." Sarutobi turned and left the room, leaving the newly assigned (and still curious) Jounin and the boy alone. Sighing, Inoichi pulled up a chair and sat at the boy's bedside. About four minutes later, Chouza barreled in, huffing and puffing like a steamboat.

Inoichi simply looked up at his friend, who was bewildered by the fact that the Hokage was gone. "He left a long time ago." He gave a small grin. "You must be getting old to be breathing that hard, Chouza." He added with a chuckle.

"Aw shut it Inoichi. You're no spring chicken yourself, y'know." Chouza countered, and smirked when he saw his friend's expression darken. "I'm going back to the gates. Meet you at the bar later?"

"I'll be there" Inoichi replied, giving Chouza a 'thumbs up.' "Someone's gotta drink you and Shikaku under the table."

Chouza huffed in mock annoyance, and grinned. "We'll see old friend. We'll see." And with that, he left. Inoichi returned his attention to his charge, and wished he had a book or something to pass the time. He decided to go to the gift shop in the lobby to buy a pack of playing cards. He got up and left after casting one last glance at the blissfully unconscious youth.

- Prophecy -

The boy in question, however was sleeping any way but blissfully. Images flashed through his subconscious.

_Himself fighting an older man with blonde hair and glowing blue-green eyes. _

_The man charging at him an inhuman pace, his fist crackling with energy. _

_Dodging the punch, and retaliating with a savage kick to the jaw. _

_Descending on the helpless man and mercilessly beating the older man to within an inch of his life. _

_Being frightened, and leaving the battered man in a pool of his own blood._

The boy awakened with a strangled scream. He frantically looked around, trying to identify his surroundings, but to no avail. A flash of yellow catches his eye, and he turns to see blue-green eyes boring into his own. A man with blonde hair…Wait! Blonde hair-

The boy tried to rise, but discovered that he was strapped to the bed. As he began struggling against the bindings, the man began to speak.

"It's alright kid! No one's going to hurt you here. You're safe." Inoichi said in a soothing voice.

The boy only began to struggle harder. He obviously didn't like waking up in strange circumstances, tied down of all things. "Let me go!" He rasped, his throat parched from non-use.

"I had to tie you down because you were thrashing about in your sleep so wildly." Inoichi explained. "Must've been some dream, huh? Wanna talk about it?"

The boy, who had stopped struggling at this point, solemnly shook his head in the negative. Inoichi, noticing the boy's forlorn mood, tried to change the subject. "So, uh…"

"Where am I?" The boy interrupted.

"The hospital in Konohagakure. My partners and I discovered you passed out just in front of the village's gates. I brought you here myself."

Satisfied by this, the boy asked, "Who are you?"

"Yamanaka Inoichi, at your service. What about you, kid? You got a name?"

The boy was silent for a time, and then responded, "I don't remember it."

Inoichi raised an eyebrow at this response, and gazed into the boy's eyes for a moment. Sensing that the boy was indeed being truthful, he stood up and began to leave. He glanced at the boy over his shoulder and says, "Sit tight kid. I gotta report your waking up to Hokage-Sama."

The boy stared at the now empty door, and then at the straps holding him down, before muttering sarcastically, "Like I have a choice in the matter." He began trying to remember his name, but every time he tried to think, all he got in return was a crippling flash of pain.

Inoichi returned a moment later, with Sarutobi in tow. The aged leader gave a critical look to the boy, and the boy swallowed nervously. He raised his left hand, and Inoichi quickly set to untying the youth.

"Now, Inoichi tells me, young man, that you can't remember your name. Is that true?"

Gohan nodded an affirmative to him, and then glanced over at Inoichi.

"Would you please try again to remember?" The old man asked kindly. The boy seemed more at ease with Sarutobi in the room, and complied with the Sandaime's request. Almost immediately, the boy's hands flew to the sides of his head and he grunted in pain. A blinding flash of pain later, the boy had an answer for the Hokage. He looked up.

"My name is Gohan, sir."

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_**Author's Notes: **Annnnd SCENE! This is the beginnings of a legend. One that will shake the planet to the very depths of its core. BTW, the Canyon of the Cosmos is indeed Cosmo Canyon, of Final Fantasy VII fame._

_Now, I've gotten several PMs and a review, asking me if this was a crossover with Final Fantasy. My answer to this is a resounding no, although I am borrowing a few elements from the series. I won't rule out for certain that a character or two may or may not make an appearance, but it would be a cameo at best. No more, no less. Be sure to Read and Review!_

_Matane!_

_Umbrus-Sama_

_Miko - Priestess_

_Konoha - Leaf_

_Yondaime Hokage - Fourth Fire Shadow_

_Kyuubi no Kitsune - Nine-tailed Fox Spirit_

_Konohagakure no Sato - Village Hidden in the Leaves_

_Sandaime Hokage - Third Fire Shadow_

_Chuunin - Mid-Level Ninja; Journeyman_

_Jounin - Elite Ninja _

_Oyaji - Old Man_

_Icha Icha Paradise - Make Out Paradise_

_Genin - Rookie Ninja; Low-Level_

_Shougi - Japanese Chess_

_Hokage-Sama - Lord/Lady Hokage_


	2. Konoha's Newest Mystery

_**Author's Notes:** Okay, so I was a little inaccurate with my timeframe. My apologies. There was quite a bit of laziness on my part, but I have several other stories I have to work on, and I was… drawing inspiration for them! Yeah, that's it! Inspiration! - Sweatdrops - Anyway, I digress. Here's chapter two of my newest story, Prophecy._

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**Chapter 1: Konoha's Newest Mystery**

Previously…

_Inoichi returned a moment later, with Sarutobi in tow. The aged leader gave a critical look to the boy, and the boy swallowed nervously. He raised his left hand, and Inoichi quickly set to untying the youth._

"_Now, Inoichi tells me, young man, that you can't remember your name. Is that true?"_

_Gohan nodded an affirmative to him, and then glanced over at Inoichi._

"_Would you please try again to remember?" The old man asked kindly. The boy seemed more at ease with Sarutobi in the room, and complied with the Sandaime's request. Almost immediately, the boy's hands flew to the sides of his head and he grunted in pain. A blinding flash of pain later, the boy had an answer for the Hokage. He looked up._

"_My name is Gohan, sir."_

- Prophecy -

"Ah," the Sandaime nodded. Inoichi glanced between his leader and the boy, now known as Gohan. "Welcome to Konohagakure no Sato, Gohan-kun."

'_The Village Hidden in the Leaves?'_ Gohan thought. He bowed slightly, as he was still in the hospital bed. "Arigatou…"

"I am Sarutobi, leader of the village, and known to the public as Konoha's Sandaime Hokage. You may call me Hokage-Sama, as do the rest of the people who live in the village."

Gohan nodded in understanding, and replied, "Thank you again, Hokage-Sama."

The old man waved him off. "Come to my office in about an hour. We'll see about getting you set up here in the village."

Gohan stood and gave a proper bow. "Your kindness knows no bounds Hokage-Sama."

"Think nothing of it, child." Sarutobi replied. "Inoichi?" The blonde man stood at attention. "We will take our leave now."

"Yes, sir!" Inoichi responded, and he followed Sarutobi out of the room, leaving Gohan to his own devices.

Now alone, Gohan flopped back onto the bed, and after a moment of lying there, tried to understand what that dream was. He tried to identify the blonde man he fought, but got nothing in return for his trouble but a painful headache. He sighed, rubbing his temples in an attempt to dull the throbbing pain his in his skull.

After reminding himself where he was, he decided to vacate the premises as soon as possible. He couldn't explain why, but the hospital gave him a queasy feeling. Stepping outside into the bright sunlight, Gohan felt immediately refreshed, and decided to spend a little time sightseeing before going to meet the Hokage. It was then that he realized that he had **_no_** idea whatsoever as to where the Sandaime's office was located.

'_Oh well'_ He thought to himself. _'I'm sure one of the nice people in this village will give me directions.'_

Gohan had no clue as to how wrong he was. Villagers left and right spread away from him as he walked. A few glared almost disgustedly in his direction. He didn't understand why…until he looked at himself and noticed his appearance.

'_They probably think I'm some kind of homeless bandit or something'_ He realized, blushing slightly. _'I'll definitely need to visit a clothing store or a tailor.'_

Gohan felt an ominous aura behind him, but he merely shrugged it off as the villagers' unwarranted animosity toward him. Unbeknownst to him, however, their stares weren't directed at him. It just so happened that one Uzumaki Naruto was walking about two feet behind him, giving the villagers his patented grin.

As he was lost in his thoughts, he bumped into something, knocking it to the ground rather unceremoniously. The sudden jarring snapped Gohan out of his reverie and he looked down to realize that he had knocked down a girl about his age. All he could see from above her was her midnight blue hair.

"Ouch…" The girl groaned.

Gohan immediately jumped into action, extending his right hand to help the girl to her feet. "I'm terribly sorry about that miss…" He said, blushing with a sheepish grin.

She bowed her head low, and looked at the boy through her eyelashes. His all but destroyed clothes caught her attention first, and she slowly raised her head until she was looking him in the eyes.

Gohan was slightly confused by her silence, and tilted his head to one side with his hand still extended, but the blush disappeared and the smile faltered slightly. He noticed her head slowly rise up, and saw that she had the most unusual eyes he had ever seen. There were no visible pupils, and they resembled silvery pearls. He noticed that there was also a hint of lavender hidden within their depths. He was captivated by them and stared in awe.

Realizing that he was staring at her, she 'eeped,' and immediately dropped her head once again, but she took his hand and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. Gohan, who was blushing again, though for different reasons this time, decided to introduce himself. "Hi there, I'm Gohan. And you are…"

The girl's blush matched his own. "Ano…H-Hyuuga Hinata."

"Well, it's an honor to make your acquaintance, Hyuuga-san." The girl's blush deepened.

"Y-you m-may call m-me Hinata" She mumbled softly.

"Oh! Well, Hinata-san," The girl looked up in shock, believing she hadn't said it loud enough for anyone to hear. "I was wondering, since I'm new here and all, if you could tell me where the Hokage's Office is."

"W-Well, ano…it's in this b-building right here, G-Gohan-san." She replied, pointing to the building just to the right of them.

Gohan sweatdropped. "Well, thanks for your help, Hinata-San. I'll be-"

"Hinata!" A sharp voice cut in. Gohan turned toward the voice to see a tall man with long black hair, flowing gray robes, and the same eyes as Hinata. "Are you coming or not?" The man asked indignantly.

"C-Coming O-Otou-san!" She squeaked. Gohan frowned a bit at the man, before glancing back at Hinata. He cleared his throat.

"Your father?" He asked. "He seems to be the life of the party." Gohan muttered sarcastically. Hinata giggled softly behind her hand.

"H-Hai. He's the head of our c-clan. The H-Hyuuga is the m-most influential c-clan in the village."

'_That would make her an heiress to the clan, wouldn't it?'_ Gohan noted to himself. "I see. Well, I don't wish to keep such an important man waiting." Hinata deflated a bit, but Gohan was oblivious to it. "See you around!" He exclaimed, as he turned to enter the Hokage Tower.

"G-Gohan-san?" Hinata piped up, making Gohan turn back toward her.

"Yeah?"

"Ano…I-I wanted to…I m-mean…W-Welcome to K-Konohagakure." She said, bowing to him; a custom he returned with a small grin.

"Arigatou, Hinata-hime." He replied, and walked into the building. Outside, the Hyuuga heiress stood rooted to her spot, blushing at his new honorific for her.

"I don't have all day to wait, Hinata." Hyuuga Hiashi called, bringing the girl back to the world of the living. She rushed to her father's side as he began walking away.

"So who was that…urchin you were so engaged in conversation with?" Hiashi asked.

"Ano…H-He told m-me his name w-was G-Gohan, and h-he, ano…said h-he w-was new t-to K-Konoha." She replied, looking at the ground directly in front of her.

Hiashi sighed. His daughter's stuttering was always a pet peeve of his. It reminded him of her shortcomings in his all-seeing eyes. "Well, hopefully he'll learn his place quickly. A rat like him has no business sullying the hands of the heiress to Konoha's greatest clan. He's probably as bad as that De…_Disruptive_ Uzumaki brat." He smirked at his success at catching himself before saying 'Demon.'

"O-Otou-san, isn't it s-somewhat unfair to j-judge s-someone before you f-formally m-meet them?" Hinata asked meekly.

"Perhaps, Hinata, but I'm usually right about these things. Come along, we have your training this evening."

"H-Hai O-Otou-san" Hinata responded, her chin now touching her collarbone.

- Prophecy -

Gohan slowly ascended the many, many flights of stairs leading up to the Hokage's office, although he had no problem whatsoever climbing them. As he walked into the lobby just outside the office itself, he noticed the people filing in and out of the office, as well as that same odd aura he felt right before meeting Hinata, and it seemed to be especially concentrated in the vicinity of the Sandaime's office. Frowning slightly, he walked up to the door and attempted to knock.

As he raised his hand, however, the door opened, and he wound up knocking on the chest of a red-eyed woman wearing a chuunin vest. A few seconds passed, time seemed to slow down, and Gohan blushed furiously to the roots of his hair. Before anyone could react, she had Gohan pinned against the wall opposite the door, nearly forty feet away, with a kunai pressed against his throat, and growled dangerously.

"Where do you get off brat?!" She whispered, her vocal cords choked with rage.

"I-I'm sorry ma'am. I was trying to knock on the door just as you opened it. It was an accident I swear. Touching a woman there without permission is an extremely despicable thing to do, and I'm sorry if I offended you." Gohan responded calmly, although inwardly he was sweating shotgun shells.

His calm approach seemed to be contagious, because the red-eyed kunoichi dropped him and relaxed. "It seems that you're not a pervert. I respect that, kid."

Gohan bowed his head. "Thank you miss…"

"Yuuhi Kurenai." The kunoichi said. "I'm sorry about overreacting in such a way. You'd be surprised at how many guys attempt perverted actions around here."

"I can see why" Gohan accidentally thought aloud.

Kurenai blushed slightly. "Don't push your luck kid" She growled, unconsciously ruffling his hair.

Gohan immediately stiffened, realizing he vocally expressed his thoughts, and blushed. It was at that moment that Kurenai noticed Gohan's…questionable attire.

"You look like you've got quite a story to tell…" She trailed off, noticing that she didn't know the youth's name. As if reading her mind, the boy immediately responded.

"Oh! How rude of me! I'm Gohan, and…I suppose I do have a story to tell, but the problem is, I don't remember the vast majority of it." He said, looking at the ground sadly.

Kurenai couldn't help but pity the child, and her maternal instincts kicked in at this point, so she knelt down to look him in the eyes. "Don't worry about it Gohan. Your memory will reveal itself in time. Just be patient." She said with a genuine smile, and he returned the favor, albeit Gohan's was rather shaky and came off as forced. Yet for some reason that Gohan couldn't explain, his talk with the woman made him feel somewhat at peace, and as his shaky smile slowly melted into a genuine one, she stood up again.

"If you were coming to the Hokage's office, you must've wanted something, right?" She asked.

Gohan's head shot up like lightning, and he remembered his reason for coming to the tower. He slapped his forehead.

"That's right! I'm supposed to talk to him about getting set up in the village!" Kurenai sweatdropped _'How does someone forget something as important as that?'_ She wondered silently. "Thanks for reminding me Yuuhi-san." He said with a bow.

"Don't mention it Gohan-kun." She replied with a wink and disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Gohan's eyes widened in shock._ 'How did she do that?'_ He smirked. _'I wanna learn to do that.'_ He took one step into the Hokage's office, and was almost immediately blown back out by an incredibly loud and obnoxious voice.

"OYAJI! I WANT MY RAMEN!!!" A boy clad in what Gohan could only describe as 'The orange jumpsuit that nightmares are made of' bellowed. His back was to Gohan, so he couldn't see the boy's face. He saw shocking yellow hair that stuck up in every direction, and took note that he was a bit taller than the boy in question.

Gohan rose and knocked on the door, which seemed to be hanging on a single hinge after the boy's shouts. He leaped to the side as the door finally gave up its fight and fell over, nearly crushing him. The orange-garbed boy turned around at the noise, and cerulean met onyx as the boys locked eyes. The Hokage, who appeared to be sitting at his desk happily, if his smile wasn't proof of it enough. His eyes, which were closed, slowly opened and observed the boys' initial reaction of one another. He formed several hand seals before touching his ears to remove the soundproofing jutsu he had performed on himself seconds before the ear-splitting declaration was made.

"Ah, Gohan-kun! He declared, still smiling. "I've been expecting you for a few minutes now. I see you've met Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto-kun, this is Gohan. He's new to the village." The boys, still staring at one another, simultaneously nodded their heads in acknowledgement.

"My apologies, Hokage-sama." Gohan replied, bowing. "I had a run-in with Yuuhi Kurenai-san several minutes ago that delayed me just outside this office."

Sarutobi had witnessed the entire exchange between the two, but he didn't wish to embarrass his newest charge…in front of others. "I understand, Gohan-kun. Now, about your-"

"Ramen, Oyaji!" The other boy whined almost comically. He was now hopping from one foot to the other in an impatient fashion, his whiskered face scrunched up in a fox-like manner.

"In a minute, Naruto-kun" The old man said sagely. He turned his attention back to Gohan. "As I was saying, Gohan-kun, your-"

"Oyaji, I'm _STARVING_" Naruto whined even louder, and this time, his stomach joined him in complaint. Gohan glanced back at the boy, who had clutched his stomach in embarrassment.

The Sandaime sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He wouldn't admit it just then, but he was hungry as well, and he wanted to get this over with as soon as possible so they could go and eat. "Naruto-kun, the sooner I can get through this, the sooner we can go to Ichiraku, alright?"

Naruto stood at attention and saluted, "Yes, Sir!"

"Good. Now, Gohan-kun-" He was cut off by the feral growl of a wild animal. He was immediately standing with shuriken wedged between his fingers, and ready to fly at any time. He was surprised, however, when Gohan mimicked the position that Naruto was in mere moments ago.

"Sorry," Gohan said, rubbing the back of his neck and grinning. (**_A/N:_**_The infamous 'Son Grin'_) "I guess my stomach heard his, and decided to start a correspondence."

Sarutobi blinked. Once. Twice. Then he began to chuckle, which quickly became a full-blown laugh. He sat back down, replacing the shuriken and then wiping his eyes, which had started accumulating tears. "Well, in that case, Gohan-kun, why don't you join Naruto-kun and I for ramen at Ichiraku, hmm?

Gohan was immensely happy at the prospect of food, as he lost track of the days that had passed since his last meal, but then he remembered one major problem:

"I'd love to, Hokage-sama, but I have no money to speak of, sir."

"Well, Gohan-kun, consider this a 'Welcome to the Village' present."

"You mean it?" Gohan asked. Sarutobi nodded. "Awesome! I mean, Arigatou, Hokage-sama" Gohan said, blushing and with a bow.

"It's alright, son. Now, off to the ramen stand we go!" The Hokage exclaimed, which was followed by a deafening "YATTA!" from Naruto, who immediately began singing something that suspiciously sounded like 'Ride of the Valkyries,' except that the word ramen was used for every note. Gohan shook his head, and walked out after the exceptionally loud blonde.

- Prophecy -

If taking Naruto to the ramen stand was usually a large problem for Sarutobi's wallet, then taking Naruto and Gohan to the ramen stand together was a catastrophe.

Naruto would usually have about fifteen bowls of Ichiraku Ramen. Sarutobi himself would have about seven. Gohan, was a force to be reckoned with. The aging Sandaime lost count of Gohan's bowls between thirteen and forty, and the boy was still going strong.

Ichiraku Teuchi, owner and head cook of the stand, was in awe. He quickly tallied up the amount of bowls the trio had eaten so far, calculated the figure the bill would approximately be, decided to take the time to thank every god that has ever been known to mankind, and nearly fainted. His daughter, Ichiraku Ayame, fainted for him.

Finally, after eighty-three bowls, the raven-haired male stopped, placed his chopsticks down, and burped, thanking the Ichiraku family for their cooking, and then turned to a bewildered blonde, who had never seen someone eat so much in his entire life, and an openly weeping Hokage, who was mourning the loss of nearly two months of his Hokage salary. His once full-to bursting wallet was now flat and lifeless.

Giving a small cough, Sarutobi stood. His young charges stood as well. Reaching into his deflated wallet, he handed Gohan a platinum card, stamped with the Sarutobi family crest, as well as the Hokage insignia.

"Now, Gohan-kun," Sarutobi began. "The card I've just given you will allow you to procure yourself some things, free of charge to you. Now, this is a test of responsibility. It may be used for anything, just please, don't go overboard, and whatever you do…" He trailed off, looking at the remains of dinner. He rushed over and firmly grabbed Gohan's shoulders. "DON'T USE IT FOR FOOD!" He shouted.

"Understood Hokage-sama." Gohan said seriously.

"Good. Now you will be staying with the Yamanaka family until further notice, understood?"

"Ossu!" Gohan replied.

"Good. Good. I am to understand they have a daughter about your age, so play nice." The Hokage chided with a grin, to which Gohan responded with a deep blush and another 'Son Grin.' "I have instructed Inoichi to meet you here, so if you see him, or someone who greatly resembles him, they're your guide to the town. Good luck, and welcome once again to Konohagakure. Come along, Naruto-kun."

"I appreciate it, Hokage-sama." Gohan called to the old man's retreating back, "And it was nice meeting you Uzumaki-san." Both of them waved back to him, Naruto calling back to him, "Call me Naruto!" before turning and walking around a corner.

_'Now all I have to do is wait for my guide.'_ Gohan thought. He didn't have to wait long, as two girls approximately his age, one with short (about an inch above her shoulders) bubblegum colored hair and emerald green eyes, and the other with slightly longer platinum blonde hair and blue-green eyes approached him moments later._ 'She must be my guide,'_ Gohan realized._ 'She looks almost exactly like Inoichi. In fact, I'd say they were-'_

"Are you the one my dad sent me to get?" The blonde asked._ '-father and daughter.'_

"Is your father Yamanaka Inoichi-san?" He replied. She nodded, and the pink-haired girl remained silent, but kept stealing glances at him.

"You must be Gohan-san then." The blonde said with a relieved sigh.

"I am. And you are..."

"Yamanaka Ino, and my unusually quiet and large-foreheaded friend here is Haruno Sakura." That barb about her forehead had the desired effect as Sakura suddenly retorted "Watch your mouth, Ino-pig!"

"It's nice to meet you both!" Gohan exclaimed quickly, in an attempt to defuse the stuation, with the two girls glaring daggers at one another. Both blinked, glanced at him and then at each other, and began to laugh.

"Don't take it seriously, Gohan-san!" Sakura gasped between giggles.

"We're best friends, that's just our way of sayng we care." Ino continued.

Gohan sweatdropped. "Well, in that case, Yamanaka-san, Haruno-san, do you have any idea as to where I could fine a clothing store or a tailor?"

Both girls simultaneously responded, "Call me Ino/Sakura."

Gohan nodded. "Alright, Ino-san, Sakura-san. Do you know where I can get some clothes?"

The girls seemed to perk up at this prospect, and Gohan instantaneously got a bad feeling.

"Are you suggesting-" Ino started

"-That we go clothes shopping?" Sakura finished.

Gohan meekly nodded, while feeling the most intense fear he could remember at that moment.

The pre-teen girls squealed in delight, but remembered that everything was closed at this time of evening.

"We'll have to wait until tomorrow morning," Ino said dejectedly. "But I could show you where all the good places are."

"I'll come too, y'know, to assist you with your findings." Sakura added.

"Then it's settled! We leave tomorrow, at eight!" Ino responded enthusiastically. "C'mon Gohan-san! We'll need all the sleep we can get!"

The two girls began dragging Gohan by his arms toward the Yamanaka Flower Shop, where the family lived. As the girls pulled him, talking about the sleepover they were apparently having, Gohan couldn't help but think, _'What did I just get myself into?'_

* * *

_**Author's Notes:** Cut! Print! That's a wrap folks. Gohan has unlimited funds for clothes, but will his sanity survive a day of shopping with the two most shopping-obsessed girls in town? Find out the fate of our protagonist as he goes, Shopping! With! Ino and Sakura!_

_Ano - Something akin to Um_

_-San - Suffix used as a form of respect. Can be translated as Mr, Ms, or Mrs_

_Otou-san - Term used for Father_

_-Hime - Suffix meaning 'Daughter of a noble family.' Also translates to 'Princess'_

_Kunoichi - Female ninja_

_Ossu - Yes, Sir_


	3. Shopping The Troublesome Way

_**Author's Notes:** A Very Happy New Year to all my reading faithful! It has been a short while since my last update (But not as long as it has been on some of my other fics…) but, like many of my fellow authors, I was swamped by College finals, holiday plans with my family, and getting all straightened up for Spring semester. But I have returned and I give you a fresh chapter of Prophecy!_

_P.S. I have no current plans for pairings at the moment, simply because many people still have yet to meet, and because I refuse to commit to something unless I'm positive on how I want it to turn out._

_P.P.S. Since this fic begins at the end of August, I'm adjusting the ages for this fic, because… I don't need to explain my actions! I'm simply using Creative License:_

_Tenten, Gohan, Neji: 10_

_Naruto, Lee, Hinata: 9.5 (Birthdays coming up)_

_Shino, Sakura, Chouji, Kiba, Sasuke: 9_

_Shikamaru, Ino: 8.5 (Birthdays coming up)_

_One last note: one of the above characters will not have a major role in this story…Guess which it shall be? Take a stab at it, why don't ya? And now, ON WITH THE SHOW!_

* * *

**Chapter 2: Shopping…The Troublesome Way**

_Previously…_

_Gohan sweatdropped. "Well, in that case, Yamanaka-san, Haruno-san, do you have any idea as to where I could fine a clothing store or a tailor?"_

_Both girls simultaneously responded, "Call me Ino/Sakura."_

_Gohan nodded. "Alright, Ino-san, Sakura-san. Do you know where I can get some clothes?"_

_The girls seemed to perk up at this prospect, and Gohan instantaneously got a bad feeling._

_"Are you suggesting-" Ino started_

_"-That we go clothes shopping?" Sakura finished._

_Gohan meekly nodded, while feeling the most intense fear he could remember at that moment._

_The pre-teen girls squealed in delight, but remembered that everything was closed at this time of evening._

_"We'll have to wait until tomorrow morning," Ino said dejectedly. "But I could show you where all the good places are."_

_"I'll come too, y'know, to assist you with your findings." Sakura added._

_"Then it's settled! We leave tomorrow, at eight!" Ino responded enthusiastically. "C'mon Gohan-san! We'll need all the sleep we can get!"_

_The two girls began dragging Gohan by his arms toward the Yamanaka Flower Shop, where the family lived. As the girls pulled him, talking about the sleepover they were apparently having, Gohan couldn't help but think, 'What did I just get myself into?' _

- Prophecy -

'_I'll admit, I'm rather surprised by their strength.'_ Gohan mused as the two girls effortlessly pulled him along. While he began contemplating chewing through his own arms to escape, the girls amicably chatted about random things that came to mind, completely ignoring the crazed look of desperation that was slowly forming in the young boy's eyes.

Several moments later, the trio arrived at the shop, and Ino announced their arrival.

"'Kaa-san, 'Tou-san, Tadaima!" She called, but there was no response. "Hello? Anyone here?" She called again.

"There's a note on the counter here, Ino-Pig." Sakura pointed out.

"Well read it, billboard brow!" Ino snapped irritably.

"I'm not your maid, porker!" Sakura huffed.

As the girls glared at each other so hard, lightning visibly shot from their eyes and proceeded to duel for dominance, Gohan sweatdropped and picked up the note. He read it aloud:

"Ino-chan,

Dinner's at the Akimichi's tonight. Give Gohan-kun the change of clothes laid out on the bed in the guestroom, and meet us there.

Love,

Mom and Dad."

He turned his eyes to the girls, who were still glaring at one another, and the sweat drop on the back of his head grew. Chancing his safety, he decided to speak.

"…Uh Ino-san?"

"What?!?" She snarled, causing Gohan to unconsciously flinch.

"Where's your bathroom?"

"Upstairs, second door on the left."

"Alright. And the guestroom?

"Last door on the right."

"…Arigatou." And with that, the lone male in the house left the females to their own devices, while he trudged up the stairs to shower.

- Prophecy –

Fifteen minutes later, Gohan returned downstairs to see Ino and Sakura still locked in their glaring stalemate, and the lightning shooting from their eyes had intensified into a full-blown electrical disturbance, causing each participant's hair to stand on end. Tempting fate a second time, he asked a question.

"…So when do we leave?"

"To go where?" Sakura snapped.

"To the Akimichi's for dinner?" He replied, earning blank stares from both girls. "Y'know, like in the note Ino-san's parents left?" The stares continued in awkward silence.

Ino blinked. Sakura blinked. In unison they asked,

"Where did you get those clothes?"

Gohan was wearing an olive green T-Shirt with the leaf insignia on it in black, and a pair of loose-fitting khaki shorts that reached below his knees. He still wore no shoes.

"Perhaps it would be best if you read the note yourself?" He suggested.

"Nah, there's no point to that now." Ino replied. "Especially now that we know what we need to do. C'mon Gohan-san, Forehead-Girl, to the Akimichi's!"

And with that, the trio departed the Flower Shop with a new destination in mind, although this time, the girls were not dragging Gohan behind them.

- Prophecy -

A short walk later, Gohan and the girls had arrived at the Akimichi compound, where Inoichi, Chouza, and Shikaku were all chatting outside, apparently waiting for the three youths to arrive. Ino ran up to them.

"Ah, Ino-chan!" Inoichi exclaimed when his daughter glomped him, nearly causing him to lose his balance. "It's about time you guys made it. We were about to start eating without you!"

"Pfft." Ino replied dismissively. "As if 'Kaa-san would have let you."

Inoichi chuckled and gave her a hug. "Ino-chan, you and Sakura-chan go inside. Gohan-kun, stay out here a minute, would you?"

The girls filed inside, and Gohan walked up to the men who were, at the moment, curiously staring at him.

"Glad to see the clothes I left you fit, Gohan-kun." Inoichi said once the girls had departed.

"Thank you Yamanaka-san." Gohan answered, bowing.

"Call me Inoichi. By the way, these are my partners, and dearest friends, Nara Shikaku, and Akimichi Chouza. We discovered you earlier today at the village gates."

Gohan turned to them and bowed in gratitude, which they returned.

"You can go on in, Gohan-kun. I just wanted to introduce you." Inoichi said.

"I understand, Inoichi-san." Gohan replied. "Arigatou minna-san."

"Don't mention it, Gohan-kun." Chouza boomed, slapping Gohan heartily on the shoulder.

Gohan smiled and went inside, before realizing he had no idea where to go. As he turned back to ask the others, he faintly heard Ino's voice coming from deeper inside the compound, and following that, he found Ino and Sakura talking to two boys. The smaller boy had a disaffected scowl on his face, and his dark hair was in a pineapple-style ponytail. The larger boy had brown hair and spirals on his cheeks, and was clearly more enamored with the bag of potato chips he was eating than whatever the girls were gossiping about.

'_Obviously Shikaku and Chouza's sons'_ Gohan thought.

"…So anyway, Forehead-Girl and I are taking him shopping tomorrow, and…HEY! Are you even listening to me?!" Ino screeched, causing everyone present (with the noticeable exception of Sakura) to cover their ears.

"It would be far too troublesome to answer that question honestly, so I'll answer yes." The Nara boy answered. The Akimichi just kept eating. Gohan, who had not been noticed yet, sweatdropped at the scene, before deciding to make himself known.

"Jeez Ino-san." He said, causing all of the children to turn toward him. "Think you could be louder? I don't think they heard you in the Hokage Tower." Ino had the decency to blush.

"Who are you?" The Nara asked, with one eyebrow raised.

"I'm Gohan, and you are?"

"The name's Nara Shikamaru, and this is Akimichi Chouji" Shikamaru replied, and Chouji waved when his name was mentioned. "So, you're the kid my old man was talking about earlier, huh?"

"…I guess so." Gohan replied, flashing the 'Son Grin'.

"Where are ya from?" Chouji asked between bites.

"I…I don't remember." Gohan responded slowly, looking down at the ground sadly.

"Oh." Chouji said after a small awkward pause. "Gomen, I didn't mean to upset you…"

"Don't worry about it." Gohan said. Just then, Chouji's mother called for the children, signaling that dinner was ready. As the fivesome filed out of the room, Chouji's stomach grumbled, and he clutched it with an embarrassed chuckle and a small blush.

Upon entering the dining room, Gohan was awed at the amount of foot on the table, yet was comforted by it, as though it were familiar-

**FLASH!**

Gohan was standing in a kitchen much smaller than the Akimichi's. A woman in a purple battle dress and pink pants had her back turned to him, her long black locks cascading down her back. Gohan turned from her to see a man wearing a red-orange training gi with wild black hair sitting at a table, stockpiled with food, also with his back to Gohan. On the back of the man's gi was the kanji for 'Kame' in a white circle. The man turned his head to the side slightly and spoke.

"C'mon, son! Dinner isn't gonna eat itself!"

**FLASH!**

Gohan groaned and clutched his right temple with his hand, dropping to one knee. Sakura, who was the last one to enter, noticed the pained position Gohan was in.

"Gohan-san, daijobu desu ka?" She asked rather loudly, drawing the attention of everyone else in the room. She reached out to help him up, but he waved her away gently, standing under his own power. No one noticed his dark eyes flash a deep shade of violet and return to their original color…

"I'm fine, but that was weird." He said.

"What was weird?" Chouji asked.

Gohan recounted the strange vision with stunning detail to all present. Shikaku and his son both struck an identical, strange thinking pose with their hands upside-down creating a box shape. Inoichi noticed it and chuckled, tapping Chouza on the shoulder and pointing at the father-son duo, causing Chouza to chuckle as well. As if it were rehearsed, two sets of eyes snapped open, and both Shikaku and Shikamaru said 'memory' simultaneously.

A confused "Huh?" was the vastly intelligent answer Gohan could come up with.

"You said you had no memory, right?" Shikaku asked, to which his answer was a nod from Gohan.

"The vision you had had to have been a repressed memory." Shikamaru continued.

"Inoichi told me of a similar occurrence earlier today when you met the Hokage." Shikaku finished. Father and son locked eyes and grinned at one another.

"That's right." Gohan recounted. "Hokage-Sama asked for my name, and at first I couldn't remember it, but then it came to me in a flash."

"Well, it's a good sign." Chouza said. "That your memory is coming back on its own, I mean."

Gohan smiled. "You're right. My mind is taking steps in the right direction." Just then his stomach gave a small growl. "…And apparently my stomach wants to as well, heh heh." He blushed, and everyone laughed, before settling down at the table to eat.

There was a tense silence lingering in the air for a good three seconds before a loud 'Itadakimasu' reverberated through the halls of the Akimichi home, and moments later, as quickly as it had dissipated, the silence returned in full force among the Nara, Yamanaka, and Haruno, as Gohan began to go plate-for-plate with the Akimichi men. Chouza and Chouji took notice of this, and picked up their pace. Gohan, however, accepted the challenge, and began shoveling food down faster than either of the Akimichi, while everyone else watched with eyes the size of wagon wheels…

- Prophecy -

Two minutes and fifty-three seconds later, Gohan stopped eating, burped loudly, and patted his stomach, while Chouza and Chouji continued to gorge themselves. Both exclaiming an exuberant 'HA!' as they continued. After another minute-and-a-half, they both stopped, mimicking Gohan's earlier actions.

"Well, Gohan-kun, I hope you learned a valuable lesson." Chouza stated. "NO ONE out-eats an Akimichi!" Father and son shouted to the sky. "CHUBBIES RULE!"

"…" Everyone else except Gohan was still staring slack-jawed at the trio of titanic eaters. Shikaku was the first to snap out of the dazed state and made a simple statement.

"Actually, Chouza, since he was eating faster than either you or Chouji-kun combined, he still managed to eat more than you."

"Yeah, and I totally could've kept going had I not ate some ramen an hour ago." Gohan added.

"Pfft." Chouji scoffed. "Like a bowl or two of ramen would've made a bit of difference."

"Who said anything about _a_ bowl?" Gohan shot back. "I ate _way_ more than a bowl or two!"

"How many exactly did you eat, Gohan-kun?" Nara Yoshino, Shikaku's wife asked.

"Not a terrible amount, only eighty-three." Gohan said nonchalantly. "I only stopped because Hokage-Sama started getting all depressed and stuff!."

"…" Everyone's jaw hit the floor and kept going. They dropped so far, in fact, that they broke the laws of physics and somehow smacked their respective owners on the top of their own heads, knocking them unconscious.

- Prophecy -

After everyone awakened from their shock-induced sleep, a long two hours later, everyone bid stunned farewells and went their separate ways, to return to their own respective homes. (Except Sakura, since was staying with the Yamanaka that night.)

"Okay, Gohan-san, when we get home, you need to go straight to sleep, so you'll be ready for tomorrow." Ino declared.

"What's going on tomorrow Ino-chan?" Ino's mother, Hanako asked.

"Sakura-chan and I are taking Gohan-san shopping." She replied. Inoichi, who had been drinking a soda at the time, spit it out, and began a fit of coughing and sputtering.

"Y-you…you're going shopping?! With **_them_**?!" He demanded, wheeling around and grabbing Gohan by his shoulders, forcing him to make eye contact.

"Hai, Inoichi-san" Gohan replied as best he could while Inoichi was shaking him.

"Are you mad, man?! You don't know what you've damned yourself to!!" Inoichi frantically exclaimed. Gohan had the grace to look fearful. "That's a fate I wouldn't wish to my worst enemies, but hey, better you than me. I sure hope you've enjoyed your…hey, how old are you, Gohan-kun?"

**FLASH!**

**FLASH!**

"Ten."

"Any clue on a birthday?" He asked.

**FLASH!**

**FLASH!**

"May 17th."

"Alright."

'_Well…he seems to have regained most of his sanity…'_ Gohan thought after a few awkward seconds of silence.

"Ha ha…Hahahahahahahahahaha!"

'…_Perhaps that statement was thought of in haste…'_ Gohan amended, sweatdropping.

The rest of the walk was uneventful, and as ordered, Gohan went straight to bed, and fell into a fitful slumber.

- Prophecy –

"Gohan-san…" A voice called. A call that Gohan left unheeded.

"Gohan-san…" Another voice called, and Gohan ignored it again.

"**GOHAN-SAN!!!**" This one he couldn't ignore. His body leapt out of bed on its own accord and he crashed face-first into the floor. He groaned and turned over to see two pairs of annoyed eyes glaring at him.

"Ino-san? Sakura-san?" He mumbled, as if reminding himself who they were. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes, something's wrong, Gohan-san." Sakura said passionately.

Gohan's eyes widened slightly in panic. _'What could be wrong?!'_

"What's wrong is you aren't up yet, and it's 8:19!" Ino shouted.

"Oh? That's all?" Gohan asked. "Okay." He proceeded to climb back into bed and was snoring within seconds. Both girls stood, shocked at the event that had just transpired in front of them. It was this day that would go down in history, as this would be the day Inner Sakura was born.

'**SHANNARO! I'll separate his head from his shoulders!'** She quite suddenly raged. Sakura would've completely agreed but Ino distracted her.

"Sakura-chan." Ino said quietly, her voice carrying an undertone of pure unadulterated rage. "Grab his shoulders."

Sakura, never hearing Ino in such a manner, quickly complied. Ino grabbed his legs. The two lifted him up and spirited him into the bathroom, depositing him into the bathtub. Sharing grins born of spite, the girls both reached for the cold water knob.

- Prophecy -

Far away, in the land of Wind, a red-headed boy looked up from his bowl of cereal suddenly.

"Temari." He demanded.

"Y-yes, Gaara-kun?" A blonde girl immediately answered, looking up from a magazine depicting various tessen.

"Did you hear that scream?" He asked emotionlessly.

"I didn't hear anything."

"Oh. It reminded me of the times I've reminded myself of my existence." He suddenly broke into a maniacal grin. "I shall return for lunch." And with that, he left abruptly, abandoning his cereal to soggy oblivion. Temari suppressed a shudder, and returned to her reading.

- Prophecy -

Ten minutes later, when the eastern part of Konoha began to regain their hearing, A now fully awake Gohan literally dragged a bound-and-gagged Ino and Sakura out of the Yamanaka flower shop, and ran smack-dab into Shikamaru and Chouji, who apparently seemed to be waiting for them.

"Ohayo Shikamaru-san, Chouji-san. What are you guys doing here?" Gohan asked, surprised. Shikamaru, who looked like an incarnation of death, fixed a soul-stealing glare on him, which, upon seeing the girls' state, rapidly morphed into a look of bewilderment.

"Our parents made us come with you, so you wouldn't be dragged into every store that exists in town, but you seem to be in control of that situation…" Shikamaru said, awed by the fact that the fiery young girls had been completely subdued. "I would go home and back to sleep, but this freak sonic boom completely woke me up. How troublesome is that?"

Gohan sheepishly rubbed his neck. "Yeah, weird. So let's get going."

The five set off for the nearest tailor, which happened to be three buildings down from the shop. The shop was being run by a large black-haired man whose hair was just beginning to gray at the sides. He fixed a navy blue-eyed stare on the quintet of youths. "Welcome! May I help you?"

"Yeah, I'm looki-"

**FLASH!**

Gohan was standing in the outfit he was wearing when he entered the village, except it wasn't tattered. He had a sky blue obi wrapped around his waist and matching wristbands.

**FLASH!**

Gohan's hand shot up to his temple once again and he groaned from the pain, dropping to one knee. He looked up, and the strange violet hue his eyes had taken again, was fading back into the usual obsidian.

"Do you have any paper and a pencil?" He asked suddenly.

"Yes, of course." The man replied, pulling a notebook and freshly-sharpened pencil from behind the counter. Gohan gratefully accepted them and began to rapidly sketch the outfit, as the others looked on in wonder. Seconds later, he finished, and returned it to the man. "I need about fourteen of that in various colors."

"Which colors, sir?" The tailor inquired, grabbing his measuring tape, and taking down Gohan's sizes.

Gohan looked around the shop, pointing out the various colors he wanted, and for what part they would serve. "When can you have them done by?" Gohan asked.

"Should take about three weeks." The man replied.

"Perfect! Arigatou, sir."

"Think nothing of it!" That'll be 19,250 ryou."

Gohan flashed the card the Hokage had entrusted to him.

"Did I say three weeks?" The shopkeeper asked, seemingly shocked that Gohan would have the Hokage's personal pass. "Make it two."

Gohan grinned. "Fantastic sir! Thanks again!" And with that, Gohan and the others left the store.

"So where to now?" Chouji asked between bites of potato chips.

Gohan looked down, then up and gave a small smile. "To the shoe store!" Sakura and Ino, who were still being held prisoner, began squealing and one could see waterfalls leaking from their eyes. Gohan absently pulled the rope he had around them. "Lead the way ladies." The girls gave him glares that could melt the 'alternative lifestyle' out of Orochimaru, but complied nonetheless. Another two buildings down, was the shoe store, and a woman with Auburn hair and violet eyes was running it.

"Welcome kids!" She exclaimed in an almost bubbly voice. "How can I help you?"

"I need some shoes." Gohan said, flashing the 'Son Grin'. "I don't have a pair to my name!" He added, laughing. The others all frowned, and then looked down. True enough, he was bare-footed. All of them sweatdropped, and thought the same thing. _'How did I not notice something as simple as that?!'_

"What size?"

"I don't really know. I haven't worn shoes in some time, and I'm positive I've grown since then."

"No problem. Have a seat sir." He did, and the woman retrieved a foot scale. "Right foot, please." He complied once again. "Hmmm. Size 7.5. Okie-Dokie! Be right back!"

Gohan noticed his left arm began drifting away from him, and toward the shelves. He looked up, and saw Ino and Sakura attempting to sneak away. He didn't hesitate to yank them back. "Hey! No shopping for you two, remember?" The girls huffed, and sat down, grumbling behind the tape on their mouths.

"Hey, Gohan-san, what exactly did they do?" Shikamaru asked.

"They threw me in the shower and turned on the cold water." He said flatly.

That doesn't seem-"

"I was still asleep."

"Oh."

"I'm back!" The woman called, carrying a box. "Try these on, sweetie." Inside the box was a pair of blue ninja sandals. He did, and they fit perfectly.

"Can I get three pairs of these in black?" He asked.

"Of course! I'll be back with those in just a second."

A moment later, she returned balancing three boxes in one hand. "That'll be 5,620 ryou."

He flashed the card again, and the woman smiled. "Here ya go sir! You have a fantastic day!"

"Arigatou and you too!" He replied, putting on one pair and walking out.

"So Gohan-san," Chouji started. "Are you going to the Ninja Academy?"

"Ninja What?" He responded.

* * *

_**Author's Notes:** Cut! Print! That's a wrap folks. Gohan has clothes. Gohan has shoes. Gohan has…ninja skills?! He also seems to be slowly regaining his memory…but what's the deal with the strange purple eyes? Find out about Gohan's further adventures on the next installment of Prophecy._

'_Kaa-San – Informal for Mother_

'_Tou-San – Informal for Father_

_Tadaima – I'm Home_

_Minna-San – Everyone_

_Daijobu Desu Ka? – Are you alright?_

_Itadakimasu – Usually said before a meal. I think it means, 'Time to eat'_

_Shannaro – Inner Sakura's favorite word. Usually translated to Hell Yeah, Hell No, or Damnit, depending on the situation_

_Tessen - Battle Fan  
_


	4. The Youthful Issue of Respect

_**Author's Note: **__It's been a long time, hasn't it, faithful readers? Please, put down the torches and pitchforks. I'm deeply sorry for the extended waiting period between chapters, but Writer's Block is a mother, isn't it? Nevertheless, I have something at last. I'll be the first to tell you, I'm not entirely happy about it, but hey, I can always go back and re-do it, yeah?_

_P.S. I have no current plans for pairings at the moment, simply because many people still have yet to meet, and because I refuse to commit to something unless I'm positive on how I want it to turn out._

_P.P.S. Since this fic begins at the end of August, I'm adjusting the ages for this fic, because… I don't need to explain my actions! I'm simply using Creative License:_

_Tenten, Gohan, Neji: 10_

_Naruto, Lee, Hinata: 9.5 (Birthdays coming up)_

_Shino, Sakura, Chouji, Kiba, Sasuke: 9_

_Shikamaru, Ino: 8.5 (Birthdays coming up)_

_One last note: one of the above characters will not have a major role in this story…Guess which it shall be? Take a stab at it, why don't ya? And now, ON WITH THE SHOW!_

* * *

**Chapter 3: The Youthful Issue of Respect  
**

_Previously…_

_Gohan looked down, then up and gave a small smile. "To the shoe store!" Sakura and Ino, who were still being held prisoner, began squealing and one could see waterfalls leaking from their eyes. Gohan absently pulled the rope he had around them. "Lead the way ladies." The girls gave him glares that could melt the 'alternative lifestyle' out of Orochimaru, but complied nonetheless. Another two buildings down, was the shoe store, and a woman with Auburn hair and violet eyes was running it._

"_Welcome kids!" She exclaimed in an almost bubbly voice. "How can I help you?"_

"_I need some shoes." Gohan said, flashing the 'Son Grin'. "I don't have a pair to my name!" He added, laughing. The others all frowned, and then looked down. True enough, he was bare-footed. All of them sweatdropped, and thought the same thing. __'How did I not notice something as simple as that?!'_

"_What size?"_

"_I don't really know. I haven't worn shoes in some time, and I'm positive I've grown since then."_

"_No problem. Have a seat sir." He did, and the woman retrieved a foot scale. "Right foot, please." He complied once again. "Hmmm. Size 7.5. Okie-Dokie! Be right back!"_

_Gohan noticed his left arm began drifting away from him, and toward the shelves. He looked up, and saw Ino and Sakura attempting to sneak away. He didn't hesitate to yank them back. "Hey! No shopping for you two, remember?" The girls huffed, and sat down, grumbling behind the tape on their mouths._

"_Hey, Gohan-San, what exactly did they do?" Shikamaru asked._

"_They threw me in the shower and turned on the cold water." He said flatly._

_That doesn't seem-"_

"_I was still asleep."_

"_Oh."_

"_I'm back!" The woman called, carrying a box. "Try these on, sweetie." Inside the box was a pair of blue ninja sandals. He did, and they fit perfectly._

"_Can I get three pairs of these in black?" He asked._

"_Of course! I'll be back with those in just a second."_

_A moment later, she returned balancing three boxes in one hand. "That'll be 5,620 ryou."_

_He flashed the card again, and the woman smiled. "Here ya go sir! You have a fantastic day!"_

"_Arigatou and you too!" He replied, putting on one pair and walking out._

"_So Gohan-San," Chouji started. "Are you going to the Ninja Academy?"_

"_Ninja What?" He responded._

- Prophecy -

"Y'know, the ninja academy? Where all the kids go to become ninja?" Chouji replied.

"…There's ninja in this village?" Gohan asked. Everyone facefaulted.

Shikamaru sighed. "Did you not question why over a third of the village carries weapons around all the time?"

Gohan shook his head, and Shikamaru sighed again.

"Troublesome."

Chouji simply pulled out another bag of chips, while Sakura and Ino gave him exasperated glares.

"Do you guys go to the academy?" Gohan asked after a moment.

"Yep." Chouji answered between bites. "This is the first year we are learning practical training, though."

"Practical training?"

"Yeah. They mix the classes of our year up, and then we spar; learn about handling sharp weapons, the real stuff."

"What did you learn before, then?"

"Basic stuff. Math, History, Literature. The type of thing civilians need, in case you're not cut out for ninja life. Shikamaru answered, taking the time to untie the girls.

"Ah." Gohan replied, nodding his head sagely. He noticed the foreign aura a second before he heard someone calling his name. He turned to see Naruto jogging toward the group. Before he could call out a greeting, Sakura intercepted him.

"Go away loser! You're not wanted here!" She shouted.

Gohan saw Naruto's plastic smile slip for a split-second, before it came back stronger than before.

"It's alright Sakura-chan!" He called back. "Take all the time you need. I just know you'll be running into my arms someday!"

Sakura, however, wasn't amused. "You're so annoying, Naruto-baka!" She raged. "I'd sooner die!"

"What're you all up to?" Naruto asked, blissfully unaware of the death glare he was getting, and glancing at the various members of the group.

"Helping Gohan-san shop." Shikamaru responded.

"Wanna come along?" Gohan asked.

"Hold it! Sakura said. "We need to huddle up guys." A grumbled 'Troublesome' was the only complaint as the others complied.

"Alright." Sakura started. "My 'Kaa-san says I can't hang around Naruto. At all."

"My 'Kaa-san said the same," Ino replied. "But my 'Tou-san said he didn't care."

"Same for me" Chouji added, while Shikamaru nodded in agreement with him.

"What?" Gohan said. "Why?"

"Something about how 'his influence would taint my innocence' or something equally as troublesome." Shikamaru said.

"The villagers seem to hate him too, for no real reason." Ino remarked.

"He's an annoying prankster." Sakura retorted. "That's reason enough."

"No, Forehead Girl. This goes way beyond that." Ino responded.

"I agree. They hated him even before the pranks started." Shikamaru said.

"We're getting off topic, guys." Gohan said. "Naruto-san. Does he come with us, or doesn't he?"

"If he does, I might have to go home." Sakura said quickly. Gohan eyed her suspiciously with a raised eyebrow.

"I say, what's it hurt? Let him come along." Gohan said.

"Agreed." Shikamaru said.

"If Shikamaru says it's cool, I don't mind." Chouji added.

"I don't really have a problem with it." Ino said.

"No!" Sakura protested. "There's no way on earth I'll be willingly caught in the company of that…that menace!" She finished, using a word her mother had described the Uzumaki as to her.

Gohan decided it was time to run some interference when he saw the hurt look in an eavesdropping Naruto's eyes after that last comment. He grabbed her shoulder and leveled an onyx glare into her jade eyes. "That's beyond enough Sakura-san." Any further protests died in her throat as she felt the cold fury in the amnesiac's eyes. "It's settled then." He said, breaking eye contact with Sakura, who released a breath she was subconsciously holding. The huddle broke, and he looked to Naruto. "So, you in, Naruto-san?"

The fake grin Naruto had half-heartedly pasted on his face rapidly melted into a genuine one, causing both females of the party to unconsciously blush slightly. "Really? Yeah!" As the party began to walk, tears began streaming from his eyes in an almost comical fashion.

Gohan sweatdropped at the blonde's response. "Geez, Naruto-san. Judging from the reaction you just had, one would think you'd never been invited to do anything before."

Naruto's head dropped and his eyes darkened before he replied almost inaudibly "I haven't."

Gohan frowned slightly at this, as he was the only one to hear what Naruto said. "Really? Never? Not even once?"

"Um, Gohan-san?" Ino interrupted. "What are you talking about? No one said anything."

Gohan turned back to them with a puzzled look, which was mirrored by all of the others, sans Naruto himself. "None of you heard what Naruto-san said?" His answer was shakes of the head indicating a negative response. His frown returned. _'Hn. Weird. I know I heard Naruto-san answer me, but none of the others seem to have heard it.'_

"Well, what did he say?" Sakura asked, much to the relief of the others, as they too wanted to ask, but didn't want to be the one to do so.

"He said-" Gohan started.

"Nothing important!" Naruto interrupted quite loudly, that false grin on his visage once again. Gohan's frown deepened and he opened his mouth to finish, but after locking eyes with him, and seeing the pleading look in them, he decided to let the issue drop.

"Well, now I want to know more!" Ino whined.

Gohan flashed the 'Son grin'. "It's like Naruto-san said, it's not important!" And with that, he began walking at a faster pace.

Ino huffed, and then turned to Naruto, giving him a look that all but guaranteed pain. "What did you say, Naruto-san?" She asked with a saccharine tone in her voice?

Naruto began to sweat, and glanced around nervously. He cupped his hand around his ear and leaned toaerd the direction Gohan was walking. "What was that Gohan-san? Right behind you!" And following Gohan's example, he quickened his pace to match Gohan's. Leaning over, he whispered to Gohan, "Thanks for dropping it Gohan-san."

"No problem, Naruto-san" Gohan replied.

Both momentarily froze upon feeling the combined killing intent radiating from the girls, before meeting one another's gaze, and turning back toward them in unison, before simultaneously making a break for it, the two enraged kunoichi-in-training hot on their heels. Chouji looked between the girls pursuing their prey and his lethargic friend, and Shikamaru simply sighed.

"C'mon Chouji." Shikamaru drawled. "We've gotta stop those troublesome females before they kill the others. Man, this is such a drag." And the last two members of the party gave chase.

- Prophecy -

Twenty minutes and a chase that encompassed half the village later, several tired youths (and Naruto) convened at a familiar Ramen stand.

"Welcome to Ichiraku!" Ayame exclaimed. "What can I get for you all?"

"I'll start off with four bowls of Miso, Ayame-neechan!" Naruto exclaimed jovially.

"A bowl of beef, please." Ino said.

"Chicken for me." Sakura added.

"I'll take a bowl of beef as well." Shikamaru said.

"Five bowls of BBQ Pork, if you please!" Chouji said.

"Hey Gohan-san! What are you going to eat? Naruto asked.

Silence was the reply. Five heads turned to the only empty stool in the shop.

"…Has anyone seen Gohan-san?" Chouji inquired.

"Not since early in the chase." Sakura answered.

Ino quickly rounded on Naruto again, this time grabbing him by the collar of his orange jumpsuit. "You! You were the last one with him!" She raged, shaking him like a rag-doll. "Where did he go?!"

Naruto, through Ino's furious shaking, managed to get out a distorted, "I don't know. We split up about two minutes after the chase started."

"WHAT!" She screeched. "You let someone who's only been in the village a DAY go off on his own?!" If it were at all possible, she began shaking him harder. "You are so dead, Naruto no baka! My parents are totally gonna kill me when they find out, and should it happen, I'm taking you with me!"

"Calm down, Ino-pig!" Sakura said, trying in vain to break the stranglehold Ino had on Naruto. "I'm sure Gohan can handle himself."

Ino turned to Sakura. "What if he accidentally stumbles across a training field?" She said. "He didn't even know Konoha was a shinobi village. He could get seriously hurt, and it's all YOUR FAULT!" She finished, scowling at Naruto, and she began her shaking anew, burning with a rage born of fear.

"Che…Troublesome." Shikamaru interjected. "Instead of throttling Naruto-san, Ino, maybe we should split up and try to find him."

"But he could be anywhere by now." Ino shot back. "The village isn't exactly a small place, Shikamaru!"

"I know that, but the faster we get out there, the better chance we have of finding him before he gets into some serious trouble!" He calmly responded.

Ino had to fight the half frustrated, half defeated sigh threatening to escape her being. "Fine. Where should we start?"

- Prophecy -

Meanwhile, at the same time, Gohan was sitting in the woods, trying to make heads or tails of where he was, and how he could get back to civilization. _'Now which way did I run from? Was it the East? I think it was…but I'm not sure! Damn. I guess there's only one way to figure it out.'_ And with a direction in mind, he began backtracking (he hoped) to Konoha.

He felt the air displace behind him as he passed a tree, milliseconds before he heard a cry of 'Move!' Without batting an eyelash, he reached out and slapped a kunai away as easily as one would swat a fly.

"What are you doing out here?" A voice that oozed disdain and arrogance demanded. Gohan looked to where the offending object came from to see a boy about his age with black hair and matching eyes. The boy was wearing a tan T-shirt with the insignia of what appeared to be a red and white fan on the left side of it, and black shorts. "And how did you deflect that kunai with your bare hand?"

"I'm fine, thanks." Gohan said sarcastically. _'I only know the guy three seconds, and he already rubs me the wrong way.'_

"Tell me your name." The boy ordered.

Gohan frowned. "You do realize it's quite rude to demand someone's name, right? Hell, it's impolite to request someone's name without offering yours first."

"I'll tell you my name if you fight me." The boy replied with a smirk on his face.

"No thanks. You're not important enough to warrant a fight." Gohan said, turning to walk away.

The boy snarled. "I'm an Uchiha! Uchiha Sasuke!"

Gohan glanced back at him dismissively. "That's nice. Now I don't need to fight you to know your name, baka." And he continued to walk away.

"We're not done here!" The Uchiha raged after him. "You will show respect to your betters, loser! Even if I have to beat respect out of you!" Without warning, the boy charged at Gohan.

Gohan was suddenly hit with a wave of vertigo he was quickly learning to associate with his visions of his past.

**FLASH!**

Gohan found himself standing in front of a massive green man with pointed ears wearing a purple and white turban and an outfit conspicuously similar to the one Gohan was wearing when he first arrived in Konoha and a white cape over it.

"Alright, kid," The green man said in a gravelly, deep voice. "What do you do when an enemy attacks from behind?"

"I dunno, Piccolo-san." A four-year-old Gohan answered. "I guess turn around and fight back?"

"Wrong answer, kid." Piccolo replied. "That brief moment can mean life or death for a warrior. Today's training will cover how to fight blindly."

"How can someone fight blind?" Gohan asked. "If you can't see, how will you know where to punch or kick? Or what kind of blow the enemy is throwing?"

"That's the point of this, Gohan." Piccolo explained. "When we're done, you'll be able to feel where your opponent is in relation to you at all times."

"If you say so, Piccolo-san." Gohan said.

**FLASH!**

The Amethyst hue Gohan's half-lidded eyes took didn't fade as he felt Sasuke's kick coming before Sasuke himself knew he was going to perform it. He sidestepped it, grabbed the outstretched limb, and flung Sasuke away from him.

Sasuke twisted in midair to regain his balance, landing on his feet and launching himself at Gohan the moment his feet touched the ground. Gohan continued to effortlessly dodge every blow Sasuke threw, smirking at him the entire time, with his arms crossed.

'_He's not even taking me seriously!'_ Sasuke realized. _'I'll teach him to mock the great Uchiha legacy flowing through my veins.'_ With that, Sasuke leapt back about five meters and began to rapidly make hand seals.

Gohan, who had never seen anything like that before, stopped and watched in interest.

'_Let's see you dodge THIS!!__** Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!**__' _Sasuke brought his right hand to his mouth curing his fingers, and blew a rather large ball of fire.

Gohan's eyes widened, but his smirk widened and he allowed the fireball to envelop him.

Sasuke's arrogant smirk morphed to shock, as his actions caught up to him and he saw the fireball still burning. '_I…I killed him! Oh God!'_

Sasuke's mental rant was cut off as he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. He turned just in time to see an unharmed Gohan shooting toward him at an inhuman speed, with a fist cocked back.

_**WHAM!**_

Gohan threw the punch forward, and Sasuke just barely managed to get his arms up in time to protect his face. The creaking of the bones in his forearms and explosion of pain he felt once the blow connected was all Sasuke knew as he was sent hurtling toward a massive oak tree.

He didn't notice Gohan blur out of sight and suddenly appear in front of the tree he was heading toward.

_**WHAM!**_

Sasuke never saw the kick to his mid-back coming. He limply flew upward, until he was above the treeline, where Gohan met him once again.

_**WHAM!**_

Gohan's left fist met Sasuke's unprotected stomach. Sasuke's body seemingly warped around Gohan's fist in slow motion before time caught up and he was sent hurtling toward the ground like a meteorite.

"_**DYNAMIC ENTRY!**_" A voice suddenly called from somewhere within the forest. A green blur caught the unconscious Uchiha a split-second before he would've impacted. The blur was revealed to be a man wearing a green spandex suit and a jounin vest with orange leg warmers. His shiny black hair was cut into a bowl shape, and he had massive eyebrows.

The force of the cry woke Gohan from his stupor and his eyes returned to normal as he landed on the ground, and instantly collapsed to his knees.

"I, Maito Gai, Beautiful Green Beast of Konohagakure no Sato bore witness to your youthful battle, young warrior, and I must say I was GREATLY IMPRESSED!"

'_Battle?'_ Gohan thought._ 'I was in a fight?'_

"The ending, however, was most unyouthful." Gai continued. "Had I not been here, young Sasuke here would most assuredly be dead."

"I…I almost killed someone?" Gohan asked, the color draining from his face.

"Indeed you did…" Gai trailed off, raising an eyebrow.

"Gohan."

"Ah! Young Gohan! I've heard of you within the village. They say you have no memory of your origins, yet that beautiful display I witnessed tells me you were a fighter in the past! Your flames of youth exploded in that scuffle!"

"I…I…" Gohan fell unconscious.

"…Was it something I said?" Gai asked.

* * *

_**Author's Notes:**__ Chapter 3 is officially in the books. Gohan has unofficially put Uchiha Sasuke in his place. Now his next challenge awaits. Can he survive the calamity that is Maito Gai? Find out in the next chapter of Prophecy!_


	5. Come Again! The Cryptic Message

_**Author's Note: **__Once again, I'm terribly sorry for the wait, but I've had a lot going on in my life recently, between job hunting, acting in a Shakespeare play (A Midsummer Night's Dream, I was Robin Starveling/Moonshine), and an abrupt move to Suffolk, VA with less than 24 hours of notice, I haven't really had the time to give this story a proper update. _

_On the plus side, though, __**I'd like to take this time to invite my readers to discuss this fic on its OFFICIAL FORUM! The link is http(:)(/)www(.)fanfiction(.)net(/)f(/)868452 [just delete the parentheses I would definitely love some reader input!**_

_P.S. I have no current plans for pairings at the moment, simply because many people still have yet to meet, and because I refuse to commit to something unless I'm positive on how I want it to turn out._

_P.P.S. Since this fic begins at the end of August, I'm adjusting the ages for this fic, because… I don't need to explain my actions! I'm simply using Creative License:_

_Tenten, Gohan, Neji: 10_

_Naruto, Lee, Hinata: 9.5 (Birthdays coming up)_

_Shino, Sakura, Chouji, Kiba, Sasuke: 9_

_Shikamaru, Ino: 8.5 (Birthdays coming up)_

_One last note: __**one of the above characters will not have a major role in this story**__…Guess which it shall be? Take a stab at it, why don't ya? And now, ON WITH THE SHOW!_

* * *

**Chapter 4: Come Again?!? The Cryptic Message**

_Previously…_

_**FLASH!**_

_The Amethyst hue Gohan's half-lidded eyes took didn't fade as he felt Sasuke's kick coming before Sasuke himself knew he was going to perform it. He sidestepped it, grabbed the outstretched limb, and flung Sasuke away from him. _

_Sasuke twisted in midair to regain his balance, landing on his feet and launching himself at Gohan the moment his feet touched the ground. Gohan continued to effortlessly dodge every blow Sasuke threw, smirking at him the entire time, with his arms crossed._

'_He's not even taking me seriously!' Sasuke realized. 'I'll teach him to mock the great Uchiha legacy flowing through my veins.' With that, Sasuke leapt back about five meters and began to rapidly make hand seals._

_Gohan, who had never seen anything like that before, stopped and watched in interest._

'_Let's see you dodge THIS!!__** Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!**__' Sasuke brought his right hand to his mouth curing his fingers, and blew a rather large ball of fire._

_Gohan's eyes widened, but his smirk widened and he allowed the fireball to envelop him._

_Sasuke's arrogant smirk morphed to shock, as his actions caught up to him and he saw the fireball still burning. 'I…I killed him! Oh God!'_

_Sasuke's mental rant was cut off as he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. He turned just in time to see an unharmed Gohan shooting toward him at an inhuman speed, with a fist cocked back._

_**WHAM!**_

_Gohan threw the punch forward, and Sasuke just barely managed to get his arms up in time to protect his face. The creaking of the bones in his forearms and explosion of pain he felt once the blow connected was all Sasuke knew as he was sent hurtling toward a massive oak tree._

_He didn't notice Gohan blur out of sight and suddenly appear in front of the tree he was heading toward._

_**WHAM!**_

_Sasuke never saw the kick to his mid-back coming. He limply flew upward, until he was above the tree line, where Gohan met him once again._

_**WHAM!**_

_Gohan's left fist met Sasuke's unprotected stomach. Sasuke's body seemingly warped around Gohan's fist in slow motion before time caught up and he was sent hurtling toward the ground like a meteorite._

"_**DYNAMIC ENTRY!**__" A voice suddenly called from somewhere within the forest. A green blur caught the unconscious Uchiha a split-second before he would've impacted. The blur was revealed to be a man wearing a green spandex suit and a jounin vest with orange leg warmers. His shiny black hair was cut into a bowl shape, and he had massive eyebrows._

_The force of the cry woke Gohan from his stupor and his eyes returned to normal as he landed on the ground, and instantly collapsed to his knees._

"_I, Maito Gai, Beautiful Green Beast of Konohagakure no Sato bore witness to your youthful battle, young warrior, and I must say I was GREATLY IMPRESSED!"_

'_Battle?' Gohan thought. 'I was in a fight?'_

"_The ending, however, was most unyouthful." Gai continued. "Had I not been here, young Sasuke here would most assuredly be dead."_

"_I…I almost killed someone?" Gohan asked, the color draining from his face._

"_Indeed you did…" Gai trailed off, raising an eyebrow._

"_Gohan."_

"_Ah! Young Gohan! I've heard of you within the village. They say you have no memory of your origins, yet that beautiful display I witnessed tells me you were a fighter in the past! Your flames of youth exploded in that scuffle!"_

"_I…I…" Gohan fell unconscious._

"…_Was it something I said?" Gai asked._

- Prophecy -

Gai gathered up the battered Sasuke and the unconscious but otherwise unharmed Gohan and used Konoha Shunshin to get to the hospital, where he checked the Uchiha in, and then went to Hokage Tower to report what he had seen.

"Hokage-sama!" Gai called, throwing the newly repaired doors to Sarutobi's office open. The Hokage was locked in a grueling duel to the death with his (or any person of political importance) eternal nemesis: Paperwork. As such, once he's on a roll, he doesn't enjoy being disturbed.

"Come back later!" Sarutobi bellowed, releasing a concentrated burst of killing intent, which caused all the color on Gai's person (including his hair and spandex suit) to momentarily drain. Remembering the extra weight in his right arm as he turned to run, Gai quickly recovered.

"Hokage-sama," He began seriously. "I apologize for the interruption, but I was a witness to a situation that I believe needs your immediate attention."

"I suppose that it involves young Gohan here." The Hokage replied, noticing Gohan tucked under Gai's arm.

"Indeed it does, sir." Gai answered. "I was at Training Ground 19, performing my youthful punishment for losing to Kakashi at Jankenpo again, when I heard a cry for someone to move. I turned to the other end of the grounds to see this boy exchanging words with the Uchiha boy. As Gohan tried to leave, the Uchiha attacked him."

"That Sasuke" Sarutobi mumbled absently as he rubbed his forehead. "I'll have to have a word with him on my daily stroll. I take it that he's the reason Gohan is unconscious, correct?"

"That's the thing, Hokage-sama." Gai replied, fidgeting. "It's quite the opposite. This boy is the reason the Uchiha is in the hospital right now."

"The hospital?!" Sarutobi said, shocked.

"Yes sir." Gai said. "It was a doomed attempt from the beginning on the Uchiha's part. Sasuke's at a low mid-Genin level right now, and this boy not only dodged or repelled all of the Uchiha's blows, with his arms crossed and smirking, I might add, but also moved at near-Jounin level speed in dodging a **Fireball Jutsu**, and subdued the Uchiha in three blows. It is my firm belief that were it not for my timely intervention, Uchiha Sasuke would by all rights be dead. This boy showed enough skill to possibly give a low-level Jounin a run for their money if he were to go all out."

"Sou ka." Sarutobi said, sighing. _'Gohan, you're proving to be a much more complex mystery than I first believed.'_ He added silently. "Place Gohan-kun on the couch, and then retrieve Yamanaka Inoichi, would you Gai-kun?"

"Ossu!" Gai responded, and disappeared in a puff of smoke, appearing moments later with his assigned charge.

"You requested for me Hokage-sama?" Inoichi asked.

"Indeed I did, Inoichi-kun." The aged Hokage answered. "It seems your young ward got into a bit so a scrape with Uchiha Sasuke."

Inoichi blanched. "The Uchiha didn't hurt him too badly, did he?"

Sarutobi grimaced. "No. According to Gai-kun, here, Gohan is the reason Sasuke is convalescing at the Hospital as we speak."

Inoichi's eyes widened, and then closed. "And the mystery deepens…" He muttered, crossing his arms and nodding.

"My thoughts exactly." Sarutobi added, chuckling. "I want you to use your **Mind Transfer Jutsu **to see if you can help uncover anything."

Inoichi hesitated before nodding his assent. He pulled a chair over to where Gohan lay unconscious still. "Here goes nothing." He said, taking a deep breath. "**Ninja Art: Mind Transfer Jutsu!**" His body slumped into the chair.

- Prophecy -

Inoichi seamlessly integrated his persona into Gohan's psyche. Looking around at his surroundings, he noticed he was in a plain white hallway. Each door he walked past had a number on it with a title beneath it.

'_Let's see…'Reason', 'Instinct', 'Intellect'…Aha!'_ He came up to three doors. '_Memory'_, '_Skill'_, and an unlabeled door stood before him.

'_What does 'Memory' have in store for me today?'_ He mused, as he reached for the knob, only to be violently thrown back by a bolt of electricity. Looking back up at the door that rejected him, he noticed it was now barricaded with two-by-fours and yellow police tape. Turning toward the door that said 'Skill,' he noticed it was connected to the 'Memory' door by the same yellow tape. Inoichi heard a clank, and the only thing that saved his life was his own instinct, as a solid iron door slammed down in front of the two doors. A deep voice emanated from the door. "**Truth and power will be revealed once heritage and destiny are fully intertwined.**" The words were then branded onto the door in gold letters.

Sighing at his failed attempt, The Yamanaka turned to the unmarked door, and entered it. The room was a drab gray, and only possessed a small file cabinet. 'What could that be?' Inoichi wondered, and opened it. Inside were all the events that had happened since Gohan had arrived in Konoha, including the recovered memories, conveniently recorded in video form. Inoichi then released the technique, thankful that he wasn't leaving totally empty handed.

- Prophecy -

Inoichi's back arched as his soul fragment was reunited with his comatose body. Sarutobi stood from his seat and walked over.

"Find anything interesting?" The Hokage asked.

"Yes and no, sir" Inoichi answered. "Gohan has a…interesting deterrent for mind-reading. When I tried to read his memory, I was jolted by a thunderbolt, and then the door was barricaded and there was a message…"

"What sort of message?" Gai piped up.

"It said," Inoichi paused, as if in recollection. "Truth and power will be unleashed once heritage and destiny are fully intertwined."

"Fascinating." Sarutobi started, rubbing his chin.

"Did you find anything about how he was able to do what he did?" Gai asked.

"Nothing."

"This deserves some investigation. I may have to call in a favor to an old friend of ours…" The Hokage sighed, lighting his pipe.

"You don't mean…" Inoichi started, his eyes wide.

"I'm afraid I do." Sarutobi said, blowing out smoke. "The only thing is getting her here, and getting her to do it. At any rate, Gohan should be awake soon. You may go on ahead and take him home, Inoichi-kun. Gai-kun, you're free to go as well"

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Both Jounin saluted, and then Inoichi, placing Gohan over his shoulder, vanished in a puff of smoke. Gai decided to walk down the stairs, sobbing manly tears in honor of Gohan's 'youthful struggles.'

- Prophecy -

Yamanaka Ino was many things. Pretty, popular, athletic. However, at this moment in time, there was one thing she was not.

Yamanaka Ino was NOT happy, and everyone around her knew it. Chouji, Shikamaru, and even her closest friend, Sakura, were all giving her a wide berth as she paced in front of Ichiraku Ramen like a lioness in her cage; biding her time, and waiting for her handlers to lower their guard and go from handler to prey. It had been nearly four hours since the group of five split up to search for the Missing-In-Action Gohan, and all the others had reported back with nothing to show for their efforts.

She heard a noise. Glancing up with a cunning glint in her eye, she relentlessly attacked her prey.

Uzumaki Naruto was many things. Brash, impulsive, stubborn. However, at this moment in time, there was one thing he was not.

Uzumaki Naruto was not accompanied by the object of their search, and to Ino, he looked like a zebra with a broken leg. Needless to say, when Ino was finally pulled off of Naruto, thanks to the combined efforts of Shikamaru, Chouji, Sakura, Ichiraku Teuchi, Ichiraku Ayame, and a random ANBU (who just so happened to be intercepted as she jumped past when Ino pounced on Naruto, and was subsequently dragged into the scuffle), said victim was looking much the worse for wear. Once she seemed calm, Ino immediately snatched the battered Naruto by his ear, and began dragging him away.

"…Ino, where are you dragging Naruto?" Chouji asked timidly.

"To my parents' shop." She snarled, causing the others to flinch, with the exception of Naruto, who was now howling in pain.

"Why?" Shikamaru groaned.

"Like I said earlier, if I go down for losing Gohan, I'm making sure I don't go down alone!" Ino seethed. "He's going to be the one to explain to my dad why Gohan's missing, and that it's his fault if Gohan gets hurt. MARCH NARUTO!"

Sakura sighed, and began to follow her friend, and a glare directed back to the boys persuaded them to follow. Shikamaru released an annoyed sigh. Falling into step with the Haruno, he couldn't hide the wince when Ino twisted Naruto's ear to make him walk faster. _'Damn. It's like they say, Hell hath no fury…'_ He thought, while Chouji gave the orange-clad boy a look of sympathy.

- Prophecy -

"'Tou-san?" Ino called out when she arrived at the shop. "'Tou-san! I need you! 'Tou-san!"

"What is it Ino-chan?" Inoichi called.

"'Tou-san? Could you come down here for a minute, please?"

"Just a second, Ino-chan." He responded. A moment later, Inoichi came down the stairs, to see his only daughter holding an incredibly disheveled Uzumaki Naruto, of all people, by his ear while tapping her foot and checking the nails on her free hand. Chouji, Sakura, and Shikamaru were sitting in the corner, idly chatting while keeping a wary eye on Ino and Naruto.

"What's all this, then?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Naruto here has something to tell you." She said

"I'm listening." Inoichi stated, crossing his arms and fixing a stare into the orphan's eyes.

"W-w-well, you see, Yamanaka-san," He started.

"Naruto lost Gohan, 'Tou-san." Ino interjected.

"He did, did he?" Inoichi's eyes narrowed menacingly. Naruto swallowed hard before continuing.

"I-it was an acci-" He said

"We've searched all over, and we can't find him!" Ino interrupted, earning her a brief glare from Naruto.

Inoichi pulled himself to his full height, and Naruto unconsciously stepped back. "Is that a fact?" He said dangerously.

Naruto dropped his head. "Y-y-yes, sir"

"Well, then," Inoichi whispered. "I have only one thing to say to you all…" He trailed off.

Naruto screwed his eyes shut, Ino gulped, and the others shrank into the corner they were sitting in.

"Gohan's upstairs, asleep. He's had quite a day." He said nonchalantly.

It was so quiet, a falling senbon could be heard. Coincidentally, Shiranui Genma walked past, and his trademark senbon dropped as he was eating a stick of Dango.

Inoichi suddenly burst out laughing. "I-if you guys…if you guys could've…could've seen your faces!" He gasped out before falling to his knees and clutching his sides as he dissolved into a fit of giggles.

Naruto started laughing as well, and the others blew a sigh of relief. Ino was silent, before she began mechanically walking up the stairs. The others watched, before following her.

- Prophecy -

'_Ow, my head,'_ was Gohan's first thought as he awakened. He sat up and took in his surroundings. _'The guestroom? How did I…'_ His thoughts were cut off when the door opened to reveal Ino.

"Ino-san?" Gohan asked.

Ino stared at Gohan for a good thirty-eight seconds, and Gohan stared back, although visibly confused.

Ino choked back a sob, and without warning, flung herself at him. He reflexively caught her and glanced at the others who were standing at the door, all of whom shrugged their shoulders. Gohan sighed, and awkwardly patted her back.

"Shh, Ino-san, I'm fine. Everything's alright.

"I-we were so worried! She sobbed. We thought…" Suddenly, her fury returned, and she punched the top of his head.

"OWWW!" He yelped. "What was that for?!?"

"For making all of us worry! What were you thinking when you went off by yourself!" She shouted.

"Hang on a minute! You're the one who chased me and Naruto around the village!" Gohan shot back.

As Gohan and Ino bickered, the others sighed, and turned to leave. Inoichi faltered, glancing back at the two, and smiled.

'_Hanako and I have a lot to discuss'_ He said silently.

"Ino-chan, Gohan-kun, why don't you go out and play with your friends for a while? Here," Inoichi reached into his wallet, and handed Ino 650 ryou. "You and your friends go get some ice-cream, okay?"

"Arigatou, 'Tou-san!" Ino squealed, running out to tell her friends the good news.

"Arigatou, Inoichi-san!" Gohan echoed as he walked out.

"Gohan," Inoichi called, stopping Gohan.

"Hm?" Gohan answered.

"I'm going to help you get your memory back, alright?" Inoichi said solemnly. "Consider it a promise among men."

Gohan looked into Inoichi's eyes, and saw the burning conviction in them. He smiled, and nodded his head sharply.

"In return, though, I want you to go to the ninja academy." Upon seeing Gohan's confusion, he elaborated. "I want you to keep an eye out for my Ino, alright? The Shinobi world can be a dangerous place, especially for a pretty girl like her. Watch out for my little girl, and get stronger to protect those you care about at the same time. Sounds like a good deal, right?"

Gohan thought it over, before smirking. "Consider it a promise among men!" The two grinned at one another, and shook hands, sealing the deal.

"Gohan! C'mon!" Ino's voice floated up from below them.

"Alright!" Gohan called back.

"Get Hanako a cup of strawberry, and me a cup of chocolate, alright?" Inoichi asked.

"You got it!" Gohan answered, rushing down the stairs to meet his friends.

'Very much to discuss, indeed…' Inoichi thought.

- Prophecy -

* * *

_**Author's Notes:**__ Chapter 4 is FINALLY in the books. What could the mysterious message Inoichi uncovered in Gohan's mind possibly mean? Who is the woman Sarutobi needs to get in contact with, and for what purpose? Find out in the next chapter of Prophecy, Academy Blues, part 1!_

_I'd also like to thank __**Grochek1**__ for the idea concerning the cryptic message Inoichi finds. I modified it a bit, but the general message is still the same._

_Jankenpo – Rock-Paper-Scissors_

_Sou ka – I see_

_Senbon – Acupuncture needle, also used as a weapon in Naruto_

_Dango – Rice Dumplings_


	6. Long Time No See! Family Reunions!

_**Author's Note: **__Here we go for the hundredth time! Okay, I know, it's only been six, but hey, the future's still open! So yeah. Things are looking up at the moment, and I've got time to write, so why not use it? _

_**I'd like to take this time to invite my readers to discuss this fic on its OFFICIAL FORUM! The link is http(:)(//)www(.)fanfiction(.)net(/)f(/)868452 [just delete the parentheses I would definitely love some reader input!**_

_P.S. __**I have no plans for pairings whatsoever at the moment, simply because many people still have yet to meet, and because I refuse to commit to something unless I'm positive on how I want it to turn out. Besides, they're all between the ages of eight and ten! Bunch of pedophiles…**_

_P.P.S. Since this fic begins at the end of August, I'm adjusting the ages for this fic, because… I don't need to explain my actions! I'm simply using Creative License:_

_Tenten, Gohan, Neji: 10_

_Naruto, Lee, Hinata: 9.5 (Birthdays coming up)_

_Shino, Sakura, Chouji, Kiba, Sasuke: 9_

_Shikamaru, Ino: 8.5 (Birthdays coming up)_

_One last note: __**one of the above characters will not have a major role in this story**__…Guess which it shall be? Take a stab at it, why don't ya? And now, ON WITH THE SHOW!_

* * *

**Chapter 5: Long Time No See! Family Reunions**

_Previously…_

'_Ow, my head,' was Gohan's first thought as he awakened. He sat up and took in his surroundings. 'The guestroom? How did I…' His thoughts were cut off when the door opened to reveal Ino._

"_Ino-san?" Gohan asked._

_Ino stared at Gohan for a good thirty-eight seconds, and Gohan stared back, although visibly confused._

_Ino choked back a sob, and without warning, flung herself at him. He reflexively caught her and glanced at the others who were standing at the door, all of whom shrugged their shoulders. Gohan sighed, and awkwardly patted her back._

"_Shhh, Ino-san, I'm fine. Everything's alright."_

"_I-we were so worried! She sobbed. We thought…" Suddenly, her fury returned, and she punched the top of his head._

"_OWWW!" He yelped. "What was that for?!?"_

"_For making all of us worry! What were you thinking when you went off by yourself!" She shouted._

"_Hang on a minute! You're the one who chased me and Naruto around the village!" Gohan shot back._

_As Gohan and Ino bickered, the others sighed, and turned to leave. Inoichi faltered, glancing back at the two, and smiled._

'_Hanako and I have a lot to discuss' He said silently._

"_Ino-chan, Gohan-kun, why don't you go out and play with your friends for a while? Here," Inoichi reached into his wallet, and handed Ino 650 ryou. "You and your friends go get some ice-cream, okay?"_

"_Arigatou, 'Tou-san!" Ino squealed, running out to tell her friends the good news._

"_Arigatou, Inoichi-san!" Gohan echoed as he walked out._

"_Gohan," Inoichi called, stopping Gohan._

"_Hm?" Gohan answered._

"_I'm going to help you get your memory back, alright?" Inoichi said solemnly. "Consider it a promise among men."_

_Gohan looked into Inoichi's eyes, and saw the burning conviction in them. He smiled, and nodded his head sharply._

"_In return, though, I want you to go to the ninja academy." Upon seeing Gohan's confusion, he elaborated. "I want you to keep an eye out for my Ino, alright? The Shinobi world can be a dangerous place, especially for a pretty girl like her. Watch out for my little girl, and get stronger to protect those you care about at the same time. Sounds like a good deal, right?"_

_Gohan thought it over, before smirking. "Consider it a promise among men!" The two grinned at one another, and shook hands, sealing the deal._

"_Gohan! C'mon!" Ino's voice floated up from below them._

"_Alright!" Gohan called back._

"_Get Hanako a cup of strawberry, and me a cup of chocolate, alright?" Inoichi asked._

"_You got it!" Gohan answered, rushing down the stairs to meet his friends._

'_Very much to discuss, indeed…' Inoichi thought._

- Prophecy -

Two relatively uneventful weeks had passed, at least when compared to the overall chaos that Gohan's day out had wrought. The villagers had caught wind of Uchiha Sasuke's hospitalization, and rumors were running rampant. Everything had been heard, from Uchiha Itachi, infamous S-rank rogue-ninja and famed kinslayer, had come back to finish the job, to aliens abducting him and performing experiments, to even Sasuke tripping on a rock, and breaking his nose. Inoichi had to fight with everything he had to not burst into laughter when he overheard the alien theory when two women were discussing it in the flower shop.

Years later, the irony wouldn't be lost.

Speaking of Gohan he was currently down the street trying out his new look, if it could be called that. His current outfit consisted of a navy-blue baggy V-necked sleeveless shirt over a gold steel-mesh shirt with sleeves reaching the middle of his biceps. The matching pants were baggy as well, but not baggy enough to hamper his range of motion, and dropped to six inches above his ankles. The special Konoha insignia on the back of the outer shirt, the bandages that covered his lower legs starting from the bottom of his pants, and his wristbands were treated with color-seals so that they would match the color of whatever undershirt Gohan wore, meaning that at the moment, they were all gold. The front of the outer shirt had a similar circle over the left breast that had the kanji for 'fire' emblazoned within it. (**A/N: There is a picture URL in my profile if you're confused.**)

"So what do ya think?" The shopkeeper asked as Gohan inspected himself in the mirror.

Gohan gave himself another once-over before nodding. "It's perfect." He responded with a smile. "Better than I expected, to be honest."

"I aim to please!" The older man replied. "All the others are identical to that one, just in different colors, like you specified. Plus, thanks to those color-seals I added, everything there is mix-and-match."

"Fantastic!" Gohan said. "Thanks again, Fenton-san." He finished, grabbing the bags his clothes were in and heading to the door. "Tell Jazu-san and Danieru-san I said hi!" He added.

"Will do, Gohan-san!" Fenton Jakku called back, waving happily. "Now, where did Madi-chan hide my fudge?" The large man asked himself while scratching his head.

**- **Prophecy -

The bell rang in the Yamanaka flower shop. Hanako's attention, which had been on a magazine, instinctively shifted to the potential customer. Upon seeing it was her male charge, carrying two armloads of bags, she glanced back at her periodical. After a moment, however, she stared at the boy in front of her and lunged at him with a squeal of 'Kawaii', ensnaring him in a bone-shattering hug.

"That's a good look for you, Gohan-kun!" She gushed, letting her inner fangirl out for a moment.

"Hanako-san!" Gohan, whose face was rapidly beginning to match his outfit in hue, gasped out. "Need…air!"

"Goodness!" She gasped lightly, relinquishing her hold on the raven-haired youth, who, collapsing to his knees, dropped his bags and began sucking in as much air as he possibly could. "Sorry," she said, sheepishly. "But that outfit is amazing, Gohan-kun!" She added, giving his attire an appraising look.

"Thanks." He replied. "I designed it myself based on what I was wearing when I got to the village…I think."

"You think?"

"Memory recollection."

"Right. Speaking of that, Gohan-kun, Inoichi and I need to talk to you. Drop that stuff off, then meet us in the kitchen."

"Okay." Gohan replied, suddenly feeling a great deal of nervousness, and proceeded to do as instructed. When he arrived in the kitchen, Inoichi and Hanako both sat at the table with grave expressions on their faces, only reinforcing Gohan's feeling that something was not right.

"Gohan," Inoichi started, his hands intertwined in front of his mouth (a la Sasuke). "As much of a pleasure you've been over the past few days, we took you in on the premise that it was to be strictly temporary."

Gohan's brows knitted together in nervousness.

"Your assault of Uchiha Sasuke has only exasperated the situation." Hanako added.

The boy's eyes widened.

"Given the circumstances, we have no choice in the matter…" Inoichi continued.

"N-no choice in what matter?" Gohan asked quietly.

"We have to…" Hanako murmured.

"Have to what?" Gohan asked, louder than last time.

"It's for the best…"Inoichi muttered.

"WHAT"S FOR THE BEST?!" Gohan demanded.

"We've decided to…" Hanako whispered.

"Adopt you into the Yamanaka clan" Inoichi finished.

"WHAT DO YOU…mean…adopt…me…" Gohan's brain shut down with this new bit of information.

Inoichi and Hanako stared at each other for a moment, and then burst into peals of laughter.

"Inoichi-kun, that was so mean!" Hanako admonished, between giggles.

"I know, but it was totally worth it!" He shot back between guffaws. "The look on his face!"

"Priceless!" She added, taking a deep breath to calm down. Looking at Gohan, who hadn't moved in about four minutes, she noticed, which sobered her up somewhat. "Gohan-kun?" She asked, venturing over to him. "Gohan-kun?" She called again, waving her hand in front of his face, eliciting still no response. "Inoichi-kun, I think we broke him."

"What does Ino-san think about this situation?" Gohan murmured suddenly, still in a daze.

"She was ecstatic." Hanako replied. "She ran over to Sakura's house, chanting 'I have a brother! A big brother!'"

"But I didn't even agree to it," Gohan argued. "How does she know I even want to be her brother?"

"…She didn't." Inoichi answered. "But if you turned it down now, poor Ino-chan would cry for a month."

"Oh no you don't!" Gohan exclaimed. "I won't fall prey to your reverse psychology psychobabble!"

"Oh, how she would sob," Inoichi continued, pointedly ignoring Gohan's declaration. "She would cry, 'I hate him, 'Tou-san. I'll never forgive that jerk!'"

By this point, Gohan had slapped his hands over his ears, and was loudly shouting, "La, la, la! I can't hear you!" Hanako stood off to the side, giggling at her husband and potential foster-son's antics.

"We'll have to buy rowboats to get from room to room, because she'll flood the house with her sorrow-filled tears." Inoichi wailed. "The worst part of the whole thing, is the glares she'll give you." Inoichi added. "The soul-obliterating, mind-crushing, physically debilitating hurtful glare." Inoichi finished, sniffling a little at the end.

Gohan dropped his head, and was silently cursing his newfound ability to read lips. "It's a good thing I was gonna accept anyway." He grumbled, missing the victory sign Inoichi and Hanako flashed each other.

"Well now," A new voice entered the conversation. "I come to visit my adorable baby sister, and get a new nephew in the process!" The three turned to the voice, belonging to a pale-blonde-haired man wearing an olive green gi with matching pants under a black Haori with white diamonds decorating the lower fifth of it, black-strapped Geta, and carrying a cane. His gray-green eyes, shadowed by the olive green-and-white striped hat, showed the obvious mirth in his words.

'_Who…'_ Gohan thought in shock.

- Prophecy -

Meanwhile, at the Hokage Tower, Sarutobi was enjoying a rare break in the war on paperwork. He decided to celebrate it with a bit of his favorite _loyal_ male student's literature.

'_Oh Jiraiya, what would I do without you?'_ The aged leader thought happily with a lecherous grin on his face. A sharp knock on his office's door knocked him out of his perverted euphoria. He cleared his throat and called, "Enter."

The door opened, and a rather short woman entered. Sarutobi frowned, lost in thought, attempting to place where he had seen the mysterious elderly woman.

The woman was wearing a cherry red battle dress with green trim and a purple stripe going from her left shoulder to her right hip, where it disappeared into her obi. Her once vibrant pink hair had faded to a subdued lavender, and her steel gray eyes were schooled into a disaffected scowl.

"You've got a hell of a lot of nerve calling an old lady all the way here from Karakura, and then not even recognizing her, Saru no usurabaka.

It hit him in a flash. "Forgive me old friend, but it's been at least twenty-five years since I saw you last. Not since-"

"I didn't come here to reminisce about the good old days, Saru." She cut in bitterly. "What do you want, and why couldn't you have told me in your letter?"

"To the point as always, eh?" He said with a small chuckle. The woman's eyes narrowed. "I called for you, because I have a problem and someone of your considerable skill is necessary."

"I'm retired, Saru." She replied. "Have one of your Jounin or the ANBU Black Ops handle it."

"It's not that kind of problem." He retorted, tossing her a manila folder, which she deftly caught and opened.

"I've never seen a black-haired Yamanaka before, Saru." She said, finally sitting down.

"He was adopted, just this morning, in fact."

"What does this have to do with me?" The woman demanded.

"He's an amnesiac, and he's shown some…unusual characteristics, to say the least. He subdued and hospitalized an Uchiha with three blows, without the use of Chakra."

"So you think he's like me?" She said, connecting the dots.

"Yes. So can you help?" He asked.

"I've already had apprentices, and the last one was more of a dimwit than you, Sarutobi. Good kid, even if he's a disrespectful little delinquent." She said, muttering the last part. "What the hell, I'll take a look. If your guess is right, I'll take him on." She sighed.

"Very well then." Sarutobi said with a smile.

"Is my slacker grandson still around?" She drawled.

"He is, although you'll find he's not nearly as bad as he used to be." Sarutobi said with a small chuckle.

"I guess I'll visit with him and his family for a while." She said, standing up and stretching her back.

"Indeed. You have a great-granddaughter, now though, about nine years old now." He said, standing to see her out.

"Do I? Well, hopefully she's a looker like her grandma." She said, leaving with a small smile and a wink.

As she left the tower, Sarutobi mused to himself, "Welcome back to Konohagakure, Genkai-chan."

- Prophecy -

"Aniki!" Hanako squealed, and glomped the man. The oddly-dressed man returned the hug, before moving to Inoichi and shaking his hand. By this point, Gohan was, in every sense of the word, confused.

"Hisashiburi dane, Imouto-chan, Inoichi-kun." The stranger said merrily.

"So no one else is freaked out that this…guy got into the house completely undetected?" Gohan exploded, pointing at the man.

"Gohan-kun," Hanako said in a mildly disapproving tone. "This is my Aniki, Urahara Kisuke. Aniki, this is Gohan, the _newly dubbed_ Yamanaka Gohan." She finished, stressing the 'newly dubbed' part.

"Hajimemashite, new nephew." Kisuke said jollily, extending a hand. "Welcome to the family."

"Hajimemashite, new uncle." Gohan answered, accepting the offered hand with a slightly forced smile. _'Why can't I feel him?'_ Gohan inwardly wondered. _'It's like there's a…absence of an aura in him, yet my instincts tell me he should be seriously powerful.'_

**FLASH!**

Gohan was once again four-years old, and training on a mountaintop with Piccolo. He wasn't faring too well.

"Focus Gohan!" Piccolo roared, throwing a haymaker at the small boy.

"I'm trying, Piccolo-san!" Gohan cried, barely dodging the Green-skinned man's blow.

"You have to feel the aura around me, feel the aura around yourself!"

Gohan paused, closing his eyes. _'Focus…'_ He suddenly reached up, blocking a kick from Piccolo with his forearm.

"Good, Gohan." Piccolo praised. "However, senses are easy to trick, especially to someone new to this, as you are." Suddenly, Piccolo's energy signature vanished. Gohan's eyes shot open, only to see Piccolo standing directly in front of him. "Describe what just happened, Gohan."

"Your energy was there, and then it suddenly vanished!" Gohan reported, in awe of his sensei.

"That, Gohan, is your next lesson, Aura Suppression. A defensive ability of stealth that only the most skilled warriors can possess, and that makes them the most dangerous type of enemy of all."

Gohan nodded, and sat down to meditate alongside Piccolo.

**FLASH!**

Gohan suddenly dropped to his knees, shaking off the minor headache that accompanied his memory recollections. Kisuke's eyes widened in recognition for a split second, and he shared a look with his sister. Inoichi, seeing the look, but mistaking it for a baffled expression, explained.

"Gohan is an amnesiac, and from time to time, fragments of his memory return quite suddenly."

Kisuke nodded in understanding. "Interesting. So where's my darling little niece, Imouto-chan?"

"She's over at the Haruno Tea shop." Hanako answered.

"Isn't that a coincidence," Kisuke mused, turning back to Inoichi and Hanako. "My traveling companion hailed from the Haruno clan, if memory serves."

"A Haruno in Karakura?" Inoichi asked. "That seems…unusual, to say the least."

"How so?" Kisuke asked.

"It's a long way from Konoha to Karakura." Inoichi answered. "A Haruno in those parts would be seriously rare."

"Well, let's say that this Haruno will…answer your prayers." Kisuke retorted cryptically.

A startled "Huh?" was Inoichi's dignified response. "You mean-"

"I do." Kisuke replied with a crooked half-smile.

"What are you boys talking about?" Hanako asked, looking between the men.

"He means that the person he traveled with was the one Sandaime-sama requested to help deal with Gohan."

"'Deal' with me?" Gohan asked, who had been staring at Kisuke's back since he recovered. "Why don't I like the sound of that?" He muttered.

"The woman who was my dad's sensei, and my grandfather's Genin teammate; the one who helped him create the **Mind-Transfer Jutsu.**

Hanako gasped. "No way…"

Inoichi nodded. "The Legendary Psychic and energy manipulation expert…"

Gohan's brows furrowed.

"Haruno Genkai" Inoichi finished, closing his eyes.

- Prophecy -

_**Author's Notes:**__ Chapter 5 is FINALLY in the books. Gohan is now officially a member of the Yamanaka! What did Sarutobi mean that Gohan was like Genkai? Can she help? Find out in the next chapter of Prophecy!_

_The Fenton clan is from Butch Hartman's Danny Phantom. Genkai is from Togashi Yoshihiro's Yuyu Hakusho. Urahara Kisuke is from Kubo Tite's Bleach. I own none of them._

_I wanted to make this longer, but this seemed to be the perfect place to stop it._

* * *

_Kawaii – Cute._

_Haori – Japanese formal coat._

_Geta – Japanese wooden clogs. _

_Saru no Usurabaka – Dimwit Monkey. (Saru, Monkey is a nickname for the Sandaime, short for Sarutobi, which means Jumping Monkey)_

_Hisashiburi Dane – It's been a long time._

_Imouto-chan – Little sister_

_Aniki – Older Brother_

_Hajimemashite – Nice to meet you._


	7. Long Time No See! Family Reunions II

_**Author's Note: **__FINALLY! Finally, Umbrus-Sama, HAS COME BACK, to Thanks to the IT guy at my mom's job, my computer is now functional once again. Oh, the things I've missed! The Black Plague! The Spanish Inquisition! The Brady Bunch Reunion! (A cookie to whosoever gets that reference!) Not to mention every holiday between Halloween and Valentine's Day! So Happy –Insert Holiday Here-! Now then, without further adieu, let's get this party back on track!_

_**I'd like to take this time to invite my readers to discuss this fic on its OFFICIAL FORUM! The link is http(:)(/)www(.)fanfiction(.)net(/)f(/)868452 [just delete the parentheses I would definitely love some reader input!**_

_P.S. __**I have no plans for pairings whatsoever at the moment, simply because many people still have yet to meet, and because I refuse to commit to something unless I'm positive on how I want it to turn out. Besides, they're all between the ages of eight and ten! Bunch of pedophiles…**_

_P.P.S. Since this fic begins at the end of August, I'm adjusting the ages for this fic, because… I don't need to explain my actions! I'm simply using Creative License:_

_Tenten, Gohan, Neji: 10_

_Naruto, Lee, Hinata: 9.5 (Birthdays coming up)_

_Shino, Sakura, Chouji, Kiba, Sasuke: 9_

_Shikamaru, Ino: 8.5 (Birthdays coming up)_

_One last note: __**one of the above characters will not have a major role in this story**__…Guess which it shall be? Take a stab at it, why don't ya? And now, ON WITH THE SHOW!_

**Chapter 6: Long Time No See! Family Reunions II**

_Previously…_

"_A Haruno in Karakura?" Inoichi asked. "That seems…unusual, to say the least."_

"_How so?" Kisuke asked._

"_It's a long way from Konoha to Karakura." Inoichi answered. "A Haruno in those parts would be seriously rare."_

"_Well, let's say that this Haruno will…answer your prayers." Kisuke retorted cryptically._

_A startled "Huh?" was Inoichi's dignified response. "You mean-"_

"_I do." Kisuke replied with a crooked half-smile._

"_What are you boys talking about?" Hanako asked, looking between the men._

"_He means that the person he traveled with was the one Sandaime-sama requested to help deal with Gohan."_

"'_Deal' with me?" Gohan asked, who had been staring at Kisuke's back since he recovered. "Why don't I like the sound of that?" He muttered._

"_The woman who was my dad's sensei, and my grandfather's Genin teammate; the one who helped him create the __**Mind-Transfer Jutsu.**_

_Hanako gasped. "No way…"_

_Inoichi nodded. "The Legendary Psychic and energy manipulation expert…"_

_Gohan's brows furrowed._

"_Haruno Genkai" Inoichi finished, closing his eyes._

- Prophecy –

Chamise no Haruno was the premiere place for tea in Konohagakure no Sato. People from all walks of life populated the shop; Shinobi, civilians, youths, the elderly, and everything in between. Such a melting pot of individuals naturally made it _the_ place to go for information

RE: Gossip.

Thus, it was only proper that such a place would be Yamanaka Ino's preferred hangout whenever possible. However, rather than absorbing and basking in the gossip as was the norm concerning the young girl, instead, the balance was upset as the platinum blonde was the one giving ammunition to others.

"So yeah, 'Tou-san pulled me aside before I could leave with Gohan-san this morning, and asked me about how I would feel about having a brother right?"

Her audience, one Haruno Sakura, along with a myriad of other people feigning disinterest, but like the cotton-candy-haired child, were in fact hanging off the other girl's words.

"At first, I was excited, because I thought that he meant that 'Kaa-san was gonna have a baby, and then I was kinda grossed out because that meant that 'Kaa-san was gonna have a baby."

At this, the older people all shook their heads or smiled good-naturedly.

"But I guess 'Tou-san saw where my mind was going, because he got really pale and started stammering really fast, and pretty much shouted out that he was talking about Gohan and that he and 'Kaa-san were considering adopting him."

A collective nod was her response.

"So I thought about for a moment, and you know I've always wished I had an older brother, so I said that I'd be fine with it, and that it would be awesome, not to mention that Gohan has literally no one else in the village, and given his state, I wouldn't want him travelling around alone outside it…well, not again, at least." Ino finished, a concerned tone lacing the end of her statement.

Sakura again nodded, and the others seemed to accept this as the end of the conversation, and went back to their own…or someone else's business.

"Won't it be weird to suddenly have a super-cute guy living with you, especially since you've only known him for a few days?" Sakura asked with a slight blush.

"Well obviously, it will take some getting used to, but- Wait, did you say cute guy?" Ino blurted out.

"Are you blind as well as dumb Ino-pig?" Sakura asked incredulously. "I mean, have you even taken a look at him? He's freaking gorgeous! Think about it, that untamed black hair, those haunting black eyes…" Sakura squealed lightly.

"Now that I think about it…" Ino started, before shaking her head vigorously. "Ew, Billboard-brow!" She shouted. "He's gonna be my brother!"

"Yeah, your _adopted_ brother, there's no blood relation between you two y'know…" A purple-haired woman wearing a fishnet bodysuit and a brown leather skirt and trench-coat teased, butting into the girls' conversation.

"Anyway!" Ino shouted, doing her best to change the subject, though the blush dusting her cheeks was clearly noticed by the other young ladies, "Like I was saying, it'll take some getting used to, but if my parents trust him enough to make him a part of our family, then I'm sure I can cope." Ino replied, picking up her cup of now lukewarm tea and taking a sip.

Sakura suddenly giggled, earning her a raised eyebrow from her best friend. "I just made a comparison between your family and Gohan-san. Blonde hair and turquoise eyes versus black hair and black eyes." She giggled again. "He couldn't be more out of place if he tried!" This time, Ino joined her in laughter.

"Hmph," A new voice sounded out. "I guess this old shack still serves its purpose after all." Everyone in the shop turned to see a lavender-haired old woman dressed in a red-and-green battle dress, white pants, and an ornate hat shuffle in through the flaps in the doorway of the shop.

Sakura immediately leapt to her feet, grabbing a notepad and shuffled over to the woman.

"Irasshaimase," She said bowing before the elder. "Follow me please." Sakura led the woman to a table and pulled a pen out of her apron. "What would you like to drink today?"

"Do you have any black tea?" The senior citizen (Genkai, for those who haven't figured it out yet) asked.

"I'm afraid not," Sakura replied, smiling apologetically. "Our tea shipment is running late. I hope they weren't robbed again…"

Genkai grunted. "Chai, then."

Sakura sighed again. "Were out of that too, sorry."

Genkai's eye twitched. "I could go for a nice cup of Oolong then."

Sakura sweatdropped. "Nope." Genkai facepalmed.

"Who runs this place? She asked incredulously. "Even a trained monkey doesn't run out of tea in a chamise."

"Otou-san just got back from price negotiations in Kaze no Kuni, and Okaa-san's a chuunin. The tea shortage caught us by surprise."

"Be a dear and get your father for me. I would like to bring some things to his attention, like how to run a business." Genkai sighed out.

Sakura huffed, and opened her mouth to say something to the old woman, but reconsidered at the last moment, her jaw snapping shut audibly. "Very well ma'am." The girl acquiesced through gritted teeth. She walked to the back.

Genkai sat at the table in silence for a full minute before noticing that nearly every eye in the store was focused on her. "What the hell are you morons staring at?" Everyone who was caught staring looked away, all whistling the same song off-key simultaneously.

A moment later, a tall brown-haired man was led out from the back of the shop by Sakura. He was wearing a sleeveless Chinese-style red shirt with an open white circle on the back, and black pants.

"Okay, sweetie," The man said. "Where is the lady with the complaint?"

"Over there, Otou-san!" Sakura cried out, pointing a finger at Genkai. "She's the mean old hag who said you were a trained monkey!"

"Not exactly what I said, but close enough," Genkai said, shrugging her shoulders. She looked up at the man with a small smirk. "My, you've grown handsome, Riku-chan."

Haruno Riku reacted automatically. "Shannaro! Don't call me Riku-chan Obaa-san!" His eyes widened to comical proportions as recognition seeped into them. "Gen…Genkai-Obaa-san?" He asked hesitantly.

- Prophecy –

Meanwhile, in Konoha General Hospital, the midday sun claimed another victory to its credit, by awakening one Uchiha Sasuke, who immediately froze when he was conscious enough to realize that he wasn't in his own bedroom.

'_What…why am I here?'_ He asked himself, while looking around and trying to remember what could possibly have given him an extended stay in the infirmary. _'The last thing I recall is being in the forest practicing my kunai technique…'_

The door to his room opened and an older nurse walked in. Her wrinkled face visibly brightened when she noticed Sasuke sitting up in the bed. "Uchiha-sama! You're awake!"

"Clearly." He snapped.

"How are you feeling?" She asked, pointedly ignoring his rude response.

"I'm fine. How long have I been here?"

"Maito Gai brought you in about two weeks ago."

"…Two weeks?" Sasuke exclaimed. "Did this 'Gai' person say what happened?"

"Only that you were involved in a training accident. He seemed to be in a hurry."

'…_Wait.'_ He thought. _'I remember now. I challenged that weird boy to a fight, and he beat me into the ground!'_ Sasuke scowled. _'Darn it! Have I improved so little? To think that a nobody can defeat an Uchiha so easily? I have to get stronger. Beating him puts me one step closer to defeating __**that man**__…'_

Sasuke stood and began changing back into his clothes, already forgetting the nurse that was still in the room. Thankfully, however, the old woman had the tact to dismiss herself before he got too far and it could be deemed indecent. Once back in his (mostly intact) clothes, he simply jumped out of the ground-floor window and headed home to restock his weapons. He had training to catch up on.

'_Just wait, kid.'_ He thought darkly. _'Next time won't end the way this one did!'_

- Prophecy –

Gohan sneezed quite suddenly, earning him glances from the trio of adults he was currently walking with. It was getting embarrassing, as this was his seventh sneeze in as many minutes.

"Well well," Kisuke said. "It seems that someone's quite a popular topic in town today, huh?"

Gohan rolled his eyes at Kisuke. He'd said that every time Gohan had sneezed thus far. Gohan noticed that their party was walking past Ichiraku, and the dark-haired adoptee's stomach decided to make its presence known. Loudly. Hanako was positively mortified while Inoichi and Kisuke shared a laugh at a slightly blushing Gohan's expense.

"I'm gonna stop in for some ramen. You guys can go ahead if you want." Gohan said.

"That would be counter-productive, Gohan-kun," Hanako said, "Being that you don't know where exactly it is we're going."

Gohan sheepishly grinned and rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh yeah."

"Eh, I'm a little hungry myself," Kisuke added. "How about you two?"

Inoichi glanced at his wife. "We haven't eaten lunch yet."

Gohan grinned and walked through the flaps of the Ramen bar. His senses were instantly overwhelmed by the lone occupant of the stand; Naruto. Gohan wisely averted his eyes in time to avoid disaster. Kisuke, who was directly behind him, wasn't so lucky.

"Ah, Kami!" He wailed. "My eyes! Who the hell walks around in day-glo, kill-me-for-the-love-of-all-that-is-holy orange? No, a better question is why the hell would someone do such a thing? That, young man, is a deplorable prank to pull, and whoever put you up to it should be ashamed!" Kisuke raged at the Kyuubi container, who seemed blissfully unaware of all that was going on around him.

Teuchi and Ayame both simply stared at an out-of-breath Kisuke, blinking owlishly at him for his outburst, before shrugging and going back to their business. Gohan sauntered over to the stool next to his friend and sat down. The sudden motion so close to Naruto grabbed his attention, and he finally noticed that he wasn't alone in the stand, as was the status quo at this time of day.

"Gohan!" Naruto exclaimed jovially. "Whatcha doing here?"

"Just grabbing some ramen with the family," Gohan replied.

Naruto looked over Gohan's shoulder to see Inoichi give him a small wave, Hanako making a conscious effort to ignore him, and Kisuke trying to level a small glare at him, only to rub his eyes every few seconds and repeat the process. Naruto deflated at the response he gained from the latter two for a moment, before grinning at Gohan again.

"Wanna have a ramen-eating contest?" He asked.

Gohan debated on it for a minute. "Nah, I'm hungry, but not that hungry."

"Aw, c'mon Gohan! I gotta avenge my fallen pride! You like, totally owned my record, and I can't just sit idly by without at least trying to get it back!"

Gohan sighed. "Maybe next time, Naruto. I'm just not up to it today."

"C'mon! Pleeeeeeeease!"

"Not now."

"Pleeeeeeeeeease!"

- Prophecy –

Riku immediately engulfed Genkai into a spine-shattering hug. "Kami, Obaa-san!" He said. "It's been so long!"

Sakura, along with everyone else in the tea establishment, were slack-jawed at the exchange. All the patrons knew that insulting Chamise no Haruno was tantamount to insulting Haruno Riku himself, and his family, while urinating on the graves of his ancestors; it usually resulted in a rather unceremonious beat down. As a Tokubetsu Jounin, he usually had the power to back that claim.

The strength boost that the now infamous 'Haruno Temper' afforded assisted to that end as well.

"Otou-san?" Sakura tentatively asked. "What's going on? You know that old lady?"

Riku placed Genkai back on the ground, giving his daughter a disapproving glance. "Sakura-chan! That's no way to talk about my Obaa-san!"

Sakura's jaw unhinged further. "Y-you mean that this…"

"That's right gaki." Genkai interrupted, dusting herself off. "I'm your Hiobaa-san, Genkai."

The tea-house was immediately abuzz at the announcement. The legendary 'Reiki Mistress' of the second Great Shinobi War, Haruno Genkai had returned to Konohagakure no Sato.

"Gomen nasai Hiobaa-san!" Sakura said, bowing deeply to her ancestor.

"Come, now." Genkai answered. "No need for such formality, Sakura, was it?"

The girl nodded. "Hai, Hiobaa-san."

Genkai grunted noncommittally. "I'll try to keep that in mind." She mumbled, while she gave her great-granddaughter a cursory once-over. "I see you received the recessive gene like I did."

"Huh?" A puzzled look crossed Sakura's face.

"Your hair." Genkai deadpanned. "It's pink, like mine…" She grabbed a handful of her lavender tresses. "…Used to be."

Sakura blanched, thinking about how her hair would lose its hue as she aged.

"What brings you to town, Obaa-san?" Riku asked. "You've been gone since Otou-san-"

"I'm aware of how long I've exiled myself from Konoha, Riku." Genkai said icily, the room's temperature dropping a few degrees. "I'm here on business, not pleasure, I'm afraid."

"But you're retired."

"Yeah, so? Sarutobi called in a longstanding favor, and I've decided to humor him."

"Well, how long are you gonna be in town?"

"Depends. Could be a month, could be a few years, it could be a few hours for all I know."

"What kind of favor could possibly give you such a vague time frame?"

"Some gaki named Yamanaka Gohan."

"Huh?" Ino said, suddenly finding her voice in the presence of a living legend. "What does my brother have to do with this, Genkai-sama?"

"Hell if I know, kid." Genkai answered. "Sarutobi no Usurabaka wasn't exactly clear with what he wanted me to do concerning the gaki."

While many at the shop were scandalized that Genkai, legend or not, would speak so flippantly of the Sandaime, the rest, being Sakura, Ino, and Anko, all dissolved into giggles at her impromptu name for the man widely known for his intellect as 'The Professor.' Riku, to his credit, simply sighed.

- Prophecy –

Gohan sneezed yet again. The six others in the ramen bar all looked at him oddly.

"Well, now-"

"Kisuke-san, if you say it again, I swear I'll drown you in that bowl of ramen." Gohan growled. Naruto proceeded to choke on a mouthful of ramen at such a threat. Who in their right mind threatens ramen, anyway?

"Maybe you're catching a cold, Gohan-san." Ayame said.

"Nah," Kisuke said. "He's just a quite popular topic in town today." He began to laugh uproariously.

"Um…Kisuke?" Inoichi said nervously, tapping his brother-in-law on the shoulder.

"Yes?"

"Perhaps it'd be best if you began running."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Because-" Inoichi was cut off by a massive wave of bloodlust emanating from his foster son. Gohan calmly placed his chopsticks atop his fifth bowl of Ramen, and proceeded to stalk over toward Kisuke, murderous intentions shining clearly in his eyes. Kisuke chuckled nervously, before turning tail and running full-tilt away from the ramen stand and his homicidal nephew, who was hot on his heels.

"Of that." Inoichi finished, standing with a sigh. "C'mon Hanako-chan. We'd better get ready to peel Kisuke out of the ground."

- Prophecy –

_**Author's Notes:**__ Chapter 6 is FINALLY a wrap. Gohan is now public enemy number one in Sasuke's book! Sakura has met her great-grandmother, Genkai, for the first time, and she's searching for Gohan as well! What does the future hold for the Raven-haired Yamanaka? Find out in the next chapter of Prophecy!_

_I think Anko's cameo was oddly funny, and although I personally don't condone such relationships, she would be the one person in the canon series that would most likely suggest such a thing. Just thought I'd make that blatantly clear before some offended reviewer decides to leave some snide or otherwise nasty comment._

_I can't tell you guys how good it is to be back after such a forced hiatus. I would like to sincerely thank everyone who showed me support during the period of inactivity._

_Chamise no Haruno – Haruno Tea house._

Irasshaimase_ – Welcome. This form of the word is generally used in shops._

_Kaze no kuni – The Land of Wind, where Sunagakure no Sato, The Hidden Sand Village is located. _

_Obaa-san – Grandmother._

_Kami – God/Gods. The Japanese language doesn't use different words for plural objects/persons, i.e. Shuriken and kunai, instead of Shurikens and Kunais_

_Tokubetsu Jounin – Special Jounin, the step between Chuunin and Jounin rank. Usually chuunin with a specialty, such as Torture and Interrogation are grouped under this rank._

_Gaki – Brat_

_Hiobaa-san – Great-grandmother._

_Reiki – Spirit Energy_

_Gomen nasai – I'm Sorry, Excuse me_


	8. Really? Genkai's Preliminary Test

_**Author's Note: **__People! I can't explain why this took so bloody long, but I'll try. In the last three months: I've maintained two jobs, went to school, had a tornado destroy a portion of my town, switched to a wireless router, had a birthday pass, lost my Internet for nearly a month, only to discover my wireless router sucked, so switched back to my old router, lost my flashdrive that had all my stories on it, and delivered a litter of twelve puppies. So yeah, been incredibly busy. I can't apologize enough for this coming out now when I planned to have it out by April 15__th__, then by Cinco De Mayo, and it's just got worse from there. But enough venting. Here's the vaunted new chapter of Prophecy!!_

_**I'd like to take this time to invite my readers to discuss this fic on its OFFICIAL FORUM! The link is on my profile page. I would genuinely appreciate some reader input!**_

_P.S. __**I have no plans for pairings whatsoever at the moment, simply because many people still have yet to meet, and because I refuse to commit to something unless I'm positive on how I want it to turn out. Besides, they're all between the ages of eight and ten! Bunch of pedophiles…**_

_P.P.S. Since this fic begins at the end of August, I'm adjusting the ages for this fic, because… I don't need to explain my actions! I'm simply using Creative License:_

_Tenten, Gohan, Neji: 10_

_Naruto, Lee, Hinata: 9.5 (Birthdays coming up)_

_Shino, Sakura, Chouji, Kiba, Sasuke: 9_

_Shikamaru, Ino: 8.5 (Birthdays coming up)_

_One last note: __**one of the above characters will not have a major role in this story**_…_Guess which it shall be? Take a stab at it, why don't ya? And now, ON WITH THE SHOW!_

**Chapter 7: ...Really?! Genkai's Preliminary Test!**

_Previously…_

"_Otou-san?" Sakura tentatively asked. "What's going on? You know that old lady?"_

_Riku placed Genkai back on the ground, giving his daughter a disapproving glance. "Sakura-chan! That's no way to talk about my Obaa-san!"_

_Sakura's jaw unhinged further. "Y-you mean that this…"_

"_That's right gaki." Genkai interrupted, dusting herself off. "I'm your Hiobaa-san, Genkai."_

_The tea-house was immediately abuzz at the announcement. The legendary 'Reiki Mistress' of the second Great Shinobi War, Haruno Genkai had returned to Konohagakure no Sato._

"_Gomen nasai Hiobaa-san!" Sakura said, bowing deeply to her ancestor._

"_Come, now." Genkai answered. "No need for such formality, Sakura, was it?"_

_The girl nodded. "Hai, Hiobaa-san."_

_Genkai grunted noncommittally. "I'll try to keep that in mind." She mumbled, while she gave her great-granddaughter a cursory once-over. "I see you received the recessive gene like I did."_

"_Huh?" A puzzled look crossed Sakura's face._

"_Your hair." Genkai deadpanned. "It's pink, like mine…" She grabbed a handful of her lavender tresses. "…Used to be."_

_Sakura blanched, thinking about how her hair would lose its hue as she aged._

"_What brings you to town, Obaa-san?" Riku asked. "You've been gone since Otou-san-"_

"_I'm aware of how long I've exiled myself from Konoha, Riku." Genkai said icily, the room's temperature dropping a few degrees. "I'm here on business, not pleasure, I'm afraid."_

"_But you're retired."_

"_Yeah, so? Sarutobi called in a longstanding favor, and I've decided to humor him."_

"_Well, how long are you gonna be in town?"_

"_Depends. Could be a month, could be a few years, it could be a few hours for all I know."_

"_What kind of favor could possibly give you such a vague time frame?"_

"_Some gaki named Yamanaka Gohan."_

"_Huh?" Ino said, suddenly finding her voice in the presence of a living legend. "What does my brother have to do with this, Genkai-sama?"_

"_Hell if I know, kid." Genkai answered. "Sarutobi no Usurabaka wasn't exactly clear with what he wanted me to do concerning the gaki."_

_While many at the shop were scandalized that Genkai, legend or not, would speak so flippantly of the Sandaime, the rest, being Sakura, Ino, and Anko, all dissolved into giggles at her impromptu name for the man widely known for his intellect as 'The Professor.' Riku, to his credit, simply sighed._

_--_

_Gohan sneezed yet again. The six others in the ramen bar all looked at him oddly._

"_Well, now-"_

"_Kisuke-san, if you say it again, I swear I'll drown you in that bowl of ramen." Gohan growled. Naruto proceeded to choke on a mouthful of ramen at such a threat. Who in their right mind threatens ramen, anyway?_

"_Maybe you're catching a cold, Gohan-san." Ayame said._

"_Nah," Kisuke said. "He's just a quite popular topic in town today." He began to laugh uproariously._

"_Um…Kisuke?" Inoichi said nervously, tapping his brother-in-law on the shoulder._

"_Yes?"_

"_Perhaps it'd be best if you began running."_

"_Oh? And why is that?"_

"_Because-" Inoichi was cut off by a massive wave of bloodlust emanating from his foster son. Gohan calmly placed his chopsticks atop his fifth bowl of Ramen, and proceeded to stalk over toward Kisuke, murderous intentions shining clearly in his eyes. Kisuke chuckled nervously, before turning tail and running full-tilt away from the ramen stand and his homicidal nephew, who was hot on his heels._

_"Of that." Inoichi finished, standing with a sigh. "C'mon Hanako-chan. We'd better get ready to peel Kisuke out of the ground."_

Prophecy –

"GET BACK HERE!"

The everyday monotony (Naruto's pranks notwithstanding) of the citizens of the Hidden Leaf village was shattered by that single bellow of a ten-year-old boy raging for blood.

Urahara Kisuke was at an impasse. By running, he was only making his new nephew angrier. On the other hand, if Gohan got his hands on him, he had little doubt that the boy would beat him into the ground. Tempting fate, he glanced back at his pursuer...and immediately doubled his speed.

Gohan, whose eyes had assumed an amethyst glow once again, was literally pulverizing stray rocks with his aura alone. Kisuke really didn't want to find out what the sinister energy the newest Yamanaka was emitting could do to human flesh.

"YOU CAN'T ESCAPE!" Gohan raged, sounding much closer than Kisuke would have liked. Urahara chanced another glance back, only to see his pursuer missing in action. He looked forward only to see Gohan a scant ten yards ahead of him and closing fast.

Prophecy -

Genkai looked up sharply, cutting her eyes toward the exit.

"Obaa-san?" Riku asked. "Is something wrong?"

"Perhaps." She answered, standing, and walking to the door.

"What do you mean Genkai-sama?" Ino asked, following Genkai alongside Sakura.

"It means, that unless I'm incredibly rusty, which I'm fairly certain I'm not...GET BACK INSIDE!" She shouted, pushing the girls into the tea house. Less than a second later, an olive-green and black blur careened past the door and the adjacent window shadowed by a navy-blue and gold blur.

Everyone in the shop looked at one another, before hastily throwing the money they owed for their tea and proceeding to stampede outside to see just what the twin anomalies were. Needless to say, Ino and Sakura were at the forefront of the crowd.

The blurs continued down the road, revealing themselves to be Kisuke flying backwards with Gohan doggedly pursuing to follow up his first punch. Urahara hit the ground, sliding another forty feet. The adopted Yamanaka caught up to him before he could move any further.

"How did you do that, Kisuke-san?" Gohan demanded, grabbing the collar of his uncle's haori. The violet glare his irises held slowly began to bleed into the sclera, as he lifted Kisuke to his feet, and then above the ground. "ANSWER ME!" He roared. He pulled Kisuke close. "Tell me how you-"

"Gohan-niisan?!"

The raven-haired pre-teen dropped his new uncle, his eyes snapping back to their native onyx. He wheeled around to see his little sister and a sizable portion of the village populace behind her.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Sakura asked.

"To that...Kisuke-otooji?" Ino cried.

"I-I don't know." He admitted. "The last thing I remember is eating ramen while Naruto pestered me about an eating contest..."

_'He blacked out?'_ Urahara thought.

"Oh thank Kami." Hanako gasped out, trotting her way through the crowd toward her brother and son, Inoichi walking alongside her. "You're both ok, right?"

Kisuke nodded, while Gohan continued to look distraught.

"You...are a HELL of a lot faster than you look." Inoichi said, grinning at Gohan. Gohan was unaffected by the declaration.

"Gohan-kun?" Hanako asked tentatively. No reaction. "Gohan-kun?" She called again, a little more strongly. Again, Gohan showed no response. He suddenly turned and ran as fast as his legs would carry him, which was a good deal faster than most of the crowd, ninja training or not, could follow.

"HEY!!" A boisterous voice suddenly called, shattering the confused aura surrounding the crowd. One Uzumaki Naruto forced his way to the forefront of the gathering. "What's everyone all gathered around for?"

The onlookers' confusion became various emotions from disgusted hatred to genuine apathy as the people began to return to everyday life. Naruto was crestfallen for a moment, before he slapped on a megawatt grin and he took off as well.

- Prophecy -

Gohan didn't know where he was running, but at the moment, he couldn't care less. The only reason he stopped was because he was forced to...by a sheer rock face...that he was millimeters from running off of. Gohan finally took the time to observe his surroundings.

He was standing on a cliff that towered high above the village proper . Carved into it were four faces, all of whom had solemn looks adorning their respective visages.

"Where...?" Gohan wondered aloud.

"This is the Hokage monument."

Gohan looked to his right to see the Sandaime looking out over the village, his trademark pipe lodged in his mouth.

"It is a testament and a memorial to Konoha's mighty leaders. This is the place where the four Hokage are enshrined. A place where they will watch over us all now and forever." He continued.

"Hokage-sama," Gohan said. "You said four Hokage, yet you hold the title of the third. Where's the fourth?"

"He passed on nearly ten years ago, I'm afraid." He answered. "He sacrificed his life to defend this village from the single worst catastrophe ever to walk the earth; the Kyuubi no Youko."

"Kyuubi no Youko?" Gohan asked, utterly puzzled.

"It was a massive demon, in the shape of a fox with nine tails. One wave of its fearsome tails could destroy a mountain or cause a tsunami. For reasons unknown, this engine of destruction set its sights on this village ten years ago. There was only one shinobi in this entire village who could stand up to the terrifying might of the beast: Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage.

"Such strength," Gohan murmured, awestruck at the thought of one man going toe-to-toe with a magnificent, yet demonic creature.

"Indeed. Yondaime-sama was hailed worldwide as the most powerful shinobi ever to live, and that was before he defeated the Kyuubi. That kind of potential only comes once in a blue moon. I see the same vast potential for greatness in you, Gohan-kun." Gohan looked up with wide eyes, before sighing, and the ground suddenly seemed a lot more interesting.

"I don't see that, Hokage-sama." Gohan replied, dejectedly. "All I see is a ticking time bomb who can't be trusted."

"Don't get too down on yourself, Gohan." The aged leader said. "Granted, there have been some...unusual periods since you arrived here, but at the same time, you're an amnesiac. It's from this old man's experience that those who have your condition tend to act irrationally without an apparent cause. That's why I've called in an old friend to help you."

"You just had to pick the monument, didn't you." Genkai grumbled, walking up to the other two.

"Ah, impeccable timing as always, Genkai-san." Sarutobi boomed jovially. "Gohan-kun, I'd like you to meet Haruno Genkai, the friend whom I was just speaking of. Genkai, this is Yamanaka Gohan."

"Hn," Genkai grunted noncommittally. "Gotta tell ya, Saru, he doesn't look like much."

Gohan frowned slightly as the Hokage chuckled. "I assure you, Genkai-san, there is far more to this young man than meets the eye."

"I'm aware. I saw what he did to Urahara."

At this comment, Gohan looked down again. Genkai stared at him for a moment before sighing and clapping her hands, causing the boy to look up at her again.

"Alright, no time like the present to get started." The Haruno matriarch announced. She reached into a pouch on her side and retrieved a bowl-shaped container. Within the container was a number of tiny envelopes.

"...Oookay." Gohan said. "Do I want to know the purpose of this?"

"It's pretty simple." Genkai answered. "All you have to do is choose a piece at random. If the strip of paper inside the envelope is red, than you pass. If not, then I've wasted my time coming here. Think you can handle it?" She challenged with a smirk.

Gohan smiled nervously and hesitated for a second, before steeling his resolve and reaching for one of the miniature envelopes. Before he could grab one, however, the entirety of the container's contents promptly burst into flames once his hand got within six inches of it.

Sarutobi dropped his pipe and Genkai's eyes widened slightly. Gohan jerked his hand back and kept it away from his body as he examined it, lest he set his new clothes ablaze.

Genkai coughed into her hand. "Well, it's safe to say that you're no waste of time, kid."

"Care to elaborate Genkai-san?" The Sandaime asked.

"Those strips of paper were specially treated to react to physical energy. A sufficient amount would have turned the normally white strips red, however, apparently this boy contains...an astronomical amount of energy." Genkai explained. "I've seen some powerhouses in my day, but this...this is just incredible."

"I've got that much power?" Gohan asked apprehensively.

"It seems that way, but this demands further study." Genkai replied. "Come on, kid." She grabbed the Yamanaka by the back of his collar, and began dragging him back toward the village.

"Where are you taking me, Genkai-san?" Gohan asked, trying in vain to remove himself from the elderly woman's iron grasp.

"We, Gohan-san, are going to the arcade." She answered with a small smile.

Sarutobi watched them go, a grin on his lips. "Well now," He mused aloud. "It seems that Genkai has taken a liking to him. I was right, as usual." He took a drag from his pipe and exhaled slowly.

_'Just as I said, Gohan-kun, you have an ocean of untapped potential. I can only hope I've set you on the path of greatness, and that I'll still be around to see you achieve it.' _He thought.

Prophecy -

Uzumaki Naruto was feeling a little down. After his most recent rejection by the denizens of Konoha, he decided to blow off some steam by training at his favorite training zone.

That plan was derailed by several older trainees, who wasted no time chasing him out of the area. He was met with similar results at other training sites as well.

Now he was at one of his rare sanctuaries in the village: Kazama Arcade, enjoying an incredible winning streak at his favorite game, Pachinko. Yet, this event was actually quite common. Naruto had an unusual affinity for games that required any form of luck whatsoever. Kami help anyone who decided to challenge him to a card game...

_Meanwhile, in Mizu no Kuni..._

"ACHOO!!" A buxom blonde woman who appeared to be in her early twenties gave a mighty sneeze just as she was rolling a pair of dice. Her black-haired companion glanced at her worriedly, and then sighed, as her mentor lost yet again, but then, what else was new...

_Back in Kazama Arcade..._

Naruto had won his nineteenth game just as Genkai pulled Gohan into the building and set him down in front of a rock-paper-scissors machine.

"Alright, brat." Genkai stated. "Your next test is to choose as many out of ten correctly as possible."

Gohan glanced incredulously between her and the machine several times.

"Why?" He finally asked.

"Don't ask questions you twerp. Just do it."

"Hey!" Naruto called from his Pachinko machine. "If you need a demonstration, I'd be happy to help!"

"I think I can manage it Naruto-san, thanks." Gohan called back.

"Eh? Gohan! It's you! What's up?"

"Not a wh-OW!!" Gohan rubbed his left bicep where Genkai pinched him.

"Less talking, more picking." Genkai hissed, pinching Gohan again.

"Alright already!" He grumbled, rubbing his arm again. He chose scissors for his first try.

It was rock.

He wound up missing all of them.

Naruto burst out laughing at his friend's ineptitude at the game. "Good thing that wasn't for money, huh?" He ribbed, laughing harder than before. Gohan blushed a little, a bit embarrassed by his sub-par performance.

Genkai scowled. There was no way he could possibly have that kind of power and not get at least one right unless...

"Crap." She muttered.

"Something wrong Genkai-san?" Gohan asked.

"In my excitement to see what you could do, it seems I forgot to take into account that these machines haven't been properly recalibrated to assess one's spirit energy level of ability." She explained. "Until I can get that done, this is a useless effort."

"So what do we do now?" Gohan asked.

"Until I can get what I need, nothing." Genkai answered. "It'll take at least two days, so enjoy them while you can, because once everything is in order, it's time to go to work. Am I clear?"

"Yes ma'am!" Gohan saluted.

"Good. Now have fun with your friends, and I'll see you in a couple of days." She said, patting his shoulder, and walking out of the arcade.

"Hey, Gohan," Naruto asked, after Genkai had walked out. "Who was that super-old lady?"

"To be honest, Naruto-san," Gohan replied. "I don't really know..."

- Prophecy -

_**Author's Notes:**_ _Chapter 7 is FINALLY a wrap. Gohan finally shows signs of his true potential! What was the action that Kisuke took that set Gohan off so much?What does the future hold for the Raven-haired Yamanaka? Find out in the next chapter of Prophecy!_

_Again, I can't apologize enough for such a lull in my chapters. I would again like to sincerely thank everyone who showed me support during the period of inactivity._

_-niisan – Suffix denoting a brotherly relationship Used toward a boy older than the speaker._

Otooji – Uncle_._

_Yondaime Hokage – The Fourth Fire Shadow.. _

_Pachinko – A game not terribly unlike pinball, except it involves many more balls than even multi-ball in pinball._

_Mizu no kuni – The Land of Water, where Kirigakure no Sato, The Hidden Mist village is located._


	9. Time Flies! The Training Begins! NEW

_**Author's Note: **__People! It's been several months, but you know the drill by now. Been incredibly busy, blah, blah, blah. Here's the much-anticipated new chapter of Prophecy!!_

_**I'd like to take this time to invite my readers to discuss this fic on its OFFICIAL FORUM! The link is on my profile page. I would genuinely appreciate some reader input!**_

_P.S. __**I have no plans for pairings whatsoever at the moment, simply because many people still have yet to meet, and because I refuse to commit to something unless I'm positive on how I want it to turn out. Besides, they're all between the ages of eight and ten! Bunch of pedophiles…**_

_P.P.S. Since this fic begins in the middle of August, I'm adjusting the ages for this fic, because… I don't need to explain my actions! I'm simply using Creative License:_

_Tenten, Gohan, Neji: 10_

_Naruto, Lee, Hinata: 9.5 (Birthdays coming up)_

_Shino, Sakura, Chouji, Kiba, Sasuke: 9_

_Shikamaru, Ino: 8.5 (Birthdays coming up)_

_One last note: __**one of the above characters will not have a major role in this story**_…_Guess which it shall be? Take a stab at it, why don't ya? And now, ON WITH THE SHOW!_

**Chapter 8: Time Flies! Training Begins!**

_Previously…_

_Naruto had won his nineteenth game of Pachinko just as Genkai pulled Gohan into the building and set him down in front of a rock-paper-scissors machine._

"_Alright, brat." Genkai stated. "Your next test is to choose as many out of ten correctly as possible."_

_Gohan glanced incredulously between her and the machine several times._

"_Why?" He finally asked._

"_Don't ask questions you twerp. Just do it."_

"_Hey!" Naruto called from his Pachinko machine. "If you need a demonstration, I'd be happy to help!"_

"_I think I can manage it Naruto-san, thanks." Gohan called back._

"_Eh? Gohan! It's you! What's up?"_

"_Not a wh-OW!!" Gohan rubbed his left bicep where Genkai pinched him._

"_Less talking, more picking." Genkai hissed, pinching Gohan again._

"_Alright already!" He grumbled, rubbing his arm again. He chose scissors for his first try. _

_It was rock. _

_He wound up missing all of them._

_Naruto burst out laughing at his friend's ineptitude at the game. "Good thing that wasn't for money, huh?" He ribbed, laughing harder than before. Gohan blushed a little, a bit embarrassed by his sub-par performance._

_Genkai scowled. There was no way he could possibly have that kind of power and not get at least one right unless..._

"_Crap." She muttered._

"_Something wrong Genkai-san?" Gohan asked._

"_In my excitement to see what you could do, it seems I forgot to take into account that these machines haven't been properly recalibrated to assess one's spirit energy level of ability." She explained. "Until I can get that done, this is a useless effort."_

"_So what do we do now?" Gohan asked._

"_Until I can get what I need, nothing." Genkai answered. "It'll take at least two days, so enjoy them while you can, because once everything is in order, it's time to go to work. Am I clear?"_

"_Yes ma'am!" Gohan saluted._

"_Good. Now have fun with your friends, and I'll see you in a couple of days." She said, patting his shoulder, and walking out of the arcade._

"_Hey, Gohan," Naruto asked, after Genkai had walked out. "Who was that super-old lady?"_

"_To be honest, Naruto-san," Gohan replied. "I don't really know..."_

- Prophecy -

"We could...get some ramen?"

"Pass."

"We could...play the Rock-Paper-Scissors machine!" One could feel the grin in his voice.

"Next." Likewise, one could feel the deadpan in the reply.

"Pachinko?"

"No thanks."

"Argh! I give up!" The first speaker proclaimed.

"Told you you couldn't get me to agree with one of your ideas, Naruto-san." The second replied.

"You're a stick in the mud, Gohan" Naruto pouted.

"I am not." He answered. "You just haven't suggested anything fun yet."

"Ramen is fun!" Naruto exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at Gohan.

"Yeah, it's as fun as a bowl of noodles." Gohan shot back.

"Oh yeah?" Naruto growled. "I'll show you!" Without any further warning he charged at Gohan.

"That's it!" Gohan said excitedly, snapping his fingers, and his sudden exuberance forced Naruto to halt his charge far too quickly and sent him tumbling end over end.

"Uh..." Naruto trailed off, rubbing the back of his head.

"This is a ninja village, right?" Gohan asked. Upon seeing Naruto's emphatic nod, he continued. "That involves training, right?" Naruto nodded again, still not seeing where this line of questioning was headed. "Let's hit a training area! Maybe we'll find someone to train with."

"I already tried it earlier." Naruto responded, slightly downcast. "The training grounds are...kinda dead! Yeah, that's it!"

Gohan didn't need his high IQ to see that his acquaintance was clearly lying through his teeth. "Well, maybe there's someone there now...someone who can show us something awesome."

"You mean, we can learn jutsu?" Naruto asked, his eyes beginning to show the same enthusiasm that Gohan's reflected. "Then why are we still standing around here?!" He demanded.

"Good question, Naruto-san" Gohan agreed. "Lead the way."

Naruto didn't need to be told twice. He took off at full speed, Gohan half a step behind him.

- Prophecy -

"...891! ...892! ...893!" A voice gritted out.

Gohan and Naruto arrived at training ground sixteen and were treated to the sight of a boy about their age wearing a white gi and black pants doing vertical push-ups. His abnormally shiny black hair was tied back into a single braid which brushed the ground as he descended.

"If I do not complete 1000 vertical push-ups, then I will jump rope 3000 times.

"Dude..." Naruto breathed. "That's intense."

Gohan shrugged slightly, his onyx eyes (which were slowly turning purple) not leaving the training boy. Gohan, however, wasn't seeing the boy, however. An image of that same man from his memory at the Akimichi compound had overlaid itself over him. The man glanced at him and grinned, his ministrations never ceasing.

"Ah, hello new friends!" The boy greeted jovially. "Do you care to join me in my warm-up?"

This voice had been entirely mismatched with Gohan's hallucination, and served to snap him back to reality. He blinked and before he could say anything, Naruto beat him to it.

"Th-that's just a WARM-UP?!" Naruto yelped. "What are you gonna do as an actual exercise?"

"Well, after I get to my goal of one-thousand vertical push-ups, I was going to perform five-hundred punches and kicks with each limb, but now that the two of you have come, I was thinking something along the lines of sparring, if that is alright with both of you." The boy answered.

A smug grin quickly swallowed up the apprehensive shock that previously occupied Naruto's face. "Absolutely!" He exclaimed. "This is gonna be awesome!"

Gohan nodded as well "Sounds like a plan..." He trailed off.

"Oh, how rude of me! My name is Rock Lee, and it is a pleasure to meet both of you." Lee said.

"I'm Yamanaka Gohan, and this is Uzumaki Naruto." Gohan replied, pointing to himself and then to Naruto respectively. He then turned to Lee, missing the oddly hurt look Naruto gave him when he introduced himself with the surname 'Yamanaka'.

"Again, it is a pleasure, new friends." Lee said, never once ceasing his calisthenics. "...946! ...947! ...948! Perhaps you should stretch a bit before we spar, Gohan-san, Naruto-san. "I would not want you to pull a muscle or something worse when we spar."

"Good idea Lee-san." Gohan agreed, moving a few feet away and beginning to do so.

Naruto, however, stayed firmly rooted to his spot, arms crossed.

"You're not gonna stretch, Naruto-san?" Gohan asked.

"I'll be fine." Naruto answered tersely.

"Are you sure?" Gohan asked, not catching the sudden tension the blond was exuding. "I mean, Lee-san brought up a good-"

"I said I'll be fine Gohan!" Naruto snapped.

Both Gohan and Lee blinked at this, the latter of which lost his balance, breaking his streak, which stood at 972. "...Oooookay" Gohan answered.

There was a tense and awkward silence as Naruto scowled darkly at the ground, Gohan gave him a confused glance, and Lee looking between them, and feeling that the missed something.

"...Soooooo...how are we going to do this?" Lee asked, breaking the stalemate. "One-on-one, or a free-for all?"

"Doesn't matter." Naruto grunted.

"Free-for-all good Lee-san?" Gohan asked.

"Absolutely!" Lee responded, grinning. He settled into a basic horse stance, legs spread wide, his right arm bent at the elbow and his forearm pointing upward, and his left arm bent at the elbow against his side.

Naruto moved into what would eventually be known as his signature stance. His left arm close to his body, hand curled into a loose claw at his right hip, and his right arm crossed in front of the left, with his hand in a half-ram seal in front of his nose.

Gohan's stance was perhaps the most simplistic. He simply spread his legs to a shoulder-width apart, and bent both his elbows at 45° angles.

At some unspoken signal, all three simultaneously sprang into motion. Gohan immediately had to defend from Naruto's vicious assault. Lee refused to be ignored and spring-boarded over Gohan's shoulders to land a dropkick squarely into the Uzumaki's chest.

Vaulting backward as Naruto fell back, Lee gracefully flipped to land on his feet, only to be forced to duck immediately afterward as Gohan launched a spinning heel kick at his head. Expecting this, Gohan immediately dropped and reversing his spin direction, swung the same leg into a low sweep, knocking the other black-haired boy off balance.

Naruto re-entered the fray, landing a heel drop onto the fallen Lee's solar plexus, causing the boy to double on himself, coughing. Somersaulting backward, Naruto sprang up and launched himself at Gohan again.

"Why you?" Naruto grunted as he threw a sloppy punch, which was easily dodged. "Why do you get to be adopted in no time at all when I've been alone since I was born?!"

"I don't know, Naruto-san." Gohan answered. "It surprised me too."

"Sure. Whatever." Naruto responded, launching a snap side kick, which was swatted aside.

After evading a series of strikes, Gohan used his shin to block a punch aimed at his chest, and before Naruto could recover, the adoptive Yamanaka grabbed his wrist and placing his other hand beneath Naruto's shoulder, Gohan executed a picture-perfect judo throw.

Landing hard next to a recovering Lee, cobalt eyes met obsidian and a silent agreement was reached. Two pairs of eyes turned to the last pair, which only hardened as Gohan braced himself for the two-pronged attack.

Leading the assault, Naruto opted to attack with a slide tackle and Lee followed up with flying kick leveled at Gohan's face. Gohan's eyes widened as he ran through his options.

"Gotcha!" Naruto crowed, spotting the distressed look his opponent sported.

"Nowhere to run!" Lee agreed.

Gohan's shocked expression became a smirk as he coiled his legs and lunged at his attackers. Twisting himself into a butterfly flip, he maneuvered between the duo's attempts, backhanding Naruto as he passed above him, and then grabbing Lee's leg, bludgeoned Naruto again with a Lee-shaped blackjack.

Not giving either of his opponents a reprieve, Gohan performed a Shooting Star Press, driving his elbows into both of the fallen boys' chests. As Naruto and Lee struggled for breath, Gohan sprang to his feet and backflipped twice to distance himself from them and returned to his ready stance.

Lee coughed harshly as he rubbed the sore area that Gohan's elbow assaulted. Naruto was on his hands and knees, struggling to return to his feet.

"Hey, are you guys okay?" Gohan asked, relaxing a bit.

"D-damn it." Naruto growled, before collapsing onto his stomach again.

"You are indeed skilled, Gohan-san." Lee admitted, gingerly sitting up. "Where did you learn to fight like that? I must say that your taijutsu style is most unorthodox."

"I learned from a few people, actually. A man I'm almost sure is my father..."

"Almost sure?" Lee inquired.

"I'm an amnesiac." Gohan explained. "Aside from the past few weeks, I remember basically nothing of my life. Not my parents, not my home, nothing."

Lee nodded sympathetically. "I see. But you said several people trained you. Who else?"

"The only other person I can remember is this really big green guy." Gohan answered. His name...kinda escapes me at the moment..."

"Then he is the one I will find!" Lee shouted exuberantly. "If you could form such a devastating barrage under his tutelage, then I can as well! If I cannot find him within two weeks, I will run 50 laps around the village backwards on my hands!"

And with that, Rock Lee tore off like a man possessed, to find a mysterious green man with no leads other than he was green, leaving two incredibly confused boys in his wake. Gohan plopped down onto the grass, and felt a shiver crawl up his spine. "You ever have the feeling that you've just utterly doomed someone to copious amounts of mental scarring?"

- Prophecy -

Elsewhere in the village, a ten-year-old girl in a blue Chinese-style shirt and white pants sneezed suddenly while minding her family's weapon shop. That wouldn't normally be cause for alarm, the only problem was, however, she was carrying a box of paper bombs. It was quite heavy, however, and she was using her newly learned ability to use chakra to enhance her muscles.

Long story short, the box slipped, her chakra-coated arm came in contact with one, and the market district was treated to an impromptu fireworks display. Miraculously, virtually no damage was done to anything in the district, unless you call an almost comedic amount of soot covering the girl and everything in the store. She sighed, and trudged to the storeroom to get a broom, muttering darkly as she did so.

- Prophecy -

At the same time, in the more affluent part of town, a ten-year-old boy with long black hair and seemingly blank silver eyes with no visible pupils was practicing a Kata for the taijutsu style his clan had made infamous through the Elemental Continent. A spontaneous sneeze threw him off balance during what was supposed to be a graceful twirl which would lead into a devastating strike.

Long story short, he crashed into a rock garden a few feet away that his uncle had just finished reorganizing. The elder man merely looked from his rock garden to his nephew, and heaved a resigned sigh. The boy mistook this sigh as disgust and glared at the ground as he returned to his feet. Bowing deeply to his uncle, the boy sighed, and trudged to his training circle to resume his ministrations.

- Prophecy -

Gohan shrugged, and looked to the side, where Naruto was...supposed to be. He looked around, but Naruto was nowhere to be found. Puzzled by his friend's rather abrupt departure, Gohan rose to his feet and ambled home.

- Prophecy -

"Tadaima!" Gohan called out upon entering his adoptive family's shop. He received no response. "Anyone home?" He paused in front of the shop's counter for a moment. He couldn't explain it, but he could distinctly feel his surrogate family upstairs...or at least their individual energy signatures. Yep, that unnatural lack of a signature meant Kisuke was with them as well.

With their locations confirmed, he trekked up the flight of stairs to the house proper. Opening the door, he once again announced his arrival.

"Ah, Gohan-kun" Hanako answered. "Okaerinasai."

Nodding to acknowledge her greeting, he wordlessly walked up to Kisuke and bowed deeply. "Please forgive me, Urahara-san. My assault against you was completely unwarranted and needlessly violent. I'm truly sorry, and I can only hope that such action will not be repeated in the future."

Kisuke regarded the boy bowing before him for a moment before smiling. "Hey now. No need for such formality here. We're family. I think it's some unwritten law for us to have disagreements every now and then, right?"

"I guess..." Gohan answered somberly.

"At any rate, we're good, Gohan-kun." Urahara said.

"Thanks." Gohan replied.

"Gohan-kun, could you go get Ino from the Haruno teahouse?" Hanako asked. "Dinner's just about ready, and knowing her, she's probably lost track of time."

"Sure," Gohan acknowledged. "Back in a flash!" He called as he opened the door to head downstairs...

...And promptly closed the door, as he realized that he had no idea how to get there, as he only got there before during his enraged chase through the street.

- Prophecy -

Three minutes later, with written directions in hand, Gohan set out to retrieve his new kid sister. As he walked, he noticed a presence following him from the rooftops. Pausing suddenly, he glanced over his left shoulder, only to see nothing there. Shrugging it off, he continued on his way. The moment he turned a corner, however, the presence appeared again. Forcing down the fight-or-flight instinct that was screaming at him, he proceeded.

- Prophecy -

Gohan's pursuer had to act fast to conceal his presence. The target he was assigned to follow was good.

Alarmingly so.

Most jounin couldn't detect him, so how could some snot-nosed punk allegedly without ninja training seem to be aware of their being followed almost effortlessly? One thing was certain; his superiors would be most interested to hear about this...

- Prophecy -

By the time Gohan made it to the teahouse, his eyes had once again began to take an amethyst glow, and he was continually finding it harder to disregard the oh-so-obvious stalker he had tailing him. Just as he reached for the door, it suddenly slid open and Ino was waving back into it. Needless to say she promptly crashed into her brother, knocking them both to the ground.

"OW!" Ino groaned. "Why don't you watch where you're going, you-" She stopped short when she saw she was all but sitting atop her elder sibling. "JERK!!" She screamed, dropping her full weight on his stomach.

"OOF!" Gohan wheezed, as the sudden drop had driven the air from his lungs. "Wh...What was that for?"

"Hmph!" She snorted, standing quickly and walking off, leaving him to scramble to his feet in order to catch up.

"What's wrong with you?" Gohan asked.

She ignored him.

"Ino-san?"

"..."

"Darn it Ino!" Gohan exclaimed, finally losing his temper. "What's your problem?!" He grabbed her shoulder and wheeled her around to face him.

"As if I don't have enough to deal with! First I attack a guy I've known all of an hour, then I'm all but kidnapped by some old lady and forced to play an arcade machine while she pinches me, then Naruto starts getting all weird after we spar, not to mention that I've been _FOLLOWED_ since I left home to get you for dinner! And now THIS! Well, guess what! **I DON'T CARE!** I'm not going to play your _stupid_ games, woman! You don't want to talk?! **FINE! DON'T!** I'll enjoy the lack of you flapping your lips for five minutes! _**AND FOR THE LOVE OF KAMI, IF WHOEVER'S TAILING ME DOESN'T KNOCK IT OFF, I SWEAR I'LL HUNT YOU DOWN AND PULL OUT YOUR HAIR ONE FOLLICLE AT A TIME!!**_"

- Prophecy -

'Crap! The little brat WAS on to me!' The assailant realized. 'I've got to report this...' And with that thought, the person disappeared in a swirl of wind and leaves.

- Prophecy -

Gohan's rant had attracted the attention of all the stragglers who had still been out and about in the market district, and each and every one of them had stopped whatever it was he or she was doing to see what all the commotion was about.

Gohan, violet eyes giving off an almost eerie glow in the twilight, gave a few ragged gasps to regain his breath glared down at his adoptive sister waiting for a response. What he wasn't expecting was to see a single tear drop from her shadowed eyes. Without a word she spun around and ran off, trying to keep from bawling in the streets. The raven-haired Yamanaka finally noticed the attention focused on him a moment later.

"What the hell are YOU staring at?" He raged, his eyes appearing to glow in the twilight.

The various people around him went back to what they were originally doing, a few shaking their head in barely-concealed disgust at what they had seen. Snorting, he stomped the rest of the way home, not noticing the footprints he was leaving in solid bedrock...

- Prophecy -

Dinner at the Yamanaka house was an extremely tense affair, with a puffy-eyed Ino picking at her food and an amethyst-eyed Gohan viciously attacking his. Inoichi, Hanako, and even Kisuke could do little more than glance between the siblings, and wait for the spark that would set the powder keg off.

They didn't have to wait long.

"You attacked Kisuke-otooji." Ino mumbled, attracting three pairs of eyes toward her.

Gohan simply kept eating, not acknowledging that the young girl had spoken whatsoever.

"That's why I called you a jerk. I just..."

After a moment, Gohan looked up and opened his mouth to reply, but Hanako, sensing the impending confrontation, interrupted.

"Oh **NO**!" Hanako intoned melodramatically. "I completely forgot! Gohan-kun, would you be a dear and get the cheesecake I ordered for dessert earlier?"

Audibly snapping his mouth shut, Gohan wordlessly acquiesced. Excusing himself from the table, he moved toward the door, only to turn back to his foster mother and raise an eyebrow.

"It's two stores down, across the street." Inoichi answered, understanding the unspoken question.

Nodding, Gohan went downstairs to retrieve the confection. As soon as they heard the bell on the front door tinkle, Hanako immediately rounded on her only daughter.

"Is that what happened between you two?" She asked. "You called him a jerk for attacking your uncle?"

Ino nodded. "That and he blew up at me on the way home, because I refused to talk to him after I did it."

"Sweetheart, Gohan feels incredibly guilty for what happened this morning." Inoichi explained. "He seems to be the kind of person who takes the weight of the world and puts it on his shoulders."

"Plus he already apologized to me, and we're good now." Kisuke added.

"I didn't know all that." Ino admitted.

"So when Gohan gets back, you're going to apologize to him, right?" Hanako asked, with an undertone of command in her voice.

"Yes, mama." Ino dutifully responded. "But he said some weird stuff when he yelled at me. He mentioned this morning, and then some old lady pinching him and forcing him to play at the arcade," at the mention of which, the men grinned, knowing what, or rather who, that meant. "Then he said something about sparring with Naruto, and Naruto acting weird, and then he screamed about what he would do to someone who was following him if he caught them! It was freaky, daddy!"

The adults all shared worried glances at the thoughts of someone potentially spying on the boy,and what that could possibly mean. It was at that moment that Gohan returned from the errand Hanako sent him on. He entered the kitchen, placed the cheesecake on the table, and retreated to his room without a word or breaking stride.

Hanako and Inoichi glanced at one another, and a silent conversation ensued betwixt the pair. Sighing, Inoichi stood and followed his foster son to the guestroom turned Gohan's room.

"Gohan-kun?" Inoichi called, knocking. "Don't you want any cheesecake?"

"...No, but thank you." Was Gohan's delayed response.

"Ino-chan told us about what happened-"

"Honestly, Inoichi-san," Gohan interrupted, "It's been a trying day, and I'm kinda exhausted. Can we talk in the morning?"

Inoichi sighed yet again. "Well, alright then, but we'll save you a slice, okay?"

"That's fine. Good night."

"Good night, Gohan-kun."

- Prophecy -

**TAP**

...

**TAP**

...

**TAP**

...

The combination of that tapping sound, the wind whipping through his hair, and the distinctly uncomfortable feeling one gets from freefall was what awakened Gohan the next morning. Cracking his eyes open, he was greeted by rooftops flying beneath him at rapid speed. Slowly, he glanced to his right to see a familiar head of dull lavender hair.

"Ugh..." He groaned, gaining Genkai's attention. "Genkai-san?"

"Glad to see you're awake, kid." She replied. "Things went faster than expected, and everything's ready to start your training now."

"...So you kidnap me in the middle of the night, rather than simply waiting until tomorrow morning?!" Gohan asked incredulously.

"Time wasted is time that can't be regained." She said simply. "In case you've forgotten, I'm not getting any younger. Who knows how much longer I have for this world."

Gohan heaved a sigh, before giving a tentative grin. "Well then, Genkai-sensei, let's get started!

- Prophecy -

_**Author's Notes:**_ _Chapter 8 is at last in the books. Gohan has set into motion the inevitability that is Gai and Lee's paths crossing. Who is having Gohan followed? Are they friend or foe? What does the future hold for the demi-saiyan? Find out in the next chapter of Prophecy!_

_Again, I can't apologize enough for such a lull in my chapters. I would again like to sincerely thank everyone who showed me support during the period of inactivity._

_**Word Index**_

_Pachinko – A game not terribly unlike pinball, except it involves many more balls than even multi-ball in pinball._

_Butterfly Flip – Youtube it._

_Shooting Star Press – Youtube it also._

Kata – _A series of stances practiced by martial artists in a particular style._

_Taijutsu – Body arts; Hand-to-hand combat_

_Tadaima – I'm home._

_Okaerinasai – Welcome home_

_Pachinko – A game not terribly unlike pinball, except it involves many more balls than even multi-ball in pinball._


End file.
